Prima Bellarina
by ICanSeeYourFace
Summary: Bella Swan, an aspiring ballet dancer, auditions for the prestigious Volturi Academy of Classical and Contemporary Ballet, wanting to become a top class ballerina. But this school is not for the faint-hearted... AH, rated M for language.
1. Prologue

**Summary**: Isabella "Bella" Swan, an aspiring ballet dancer, auditions for the prestigious Volturi Academy of Classical and Contemporary Ballet, wanting to become a top class ballerina. She's got her eyes on the prize, but will it be enough? This ballet school is not for the faint hearted... All human, rated M for language, maybe for adult situations in the future. Pairings: BellaxJasper, RosaliexEmmett, Alicex(?), Edwardx(?).

**A/N**: So, this is my first venture into the Twilight-universe, and let me tell you, it's freaking me out to no end! First of all, I have never danced ballet, although I would love to. I'm hoping I could get in touch with someone who studies or has studied at a ballet school, so I could get some practical details and so on... Google can only help you so much. Second of all, it's Twilight. I'd hate to botch the characters, so I hope I'm doing them justice. *keeps fingers crossed* A humongous thank you to Kassandra27; without you this story (and a couple of others, too) would never have made it this far. :)

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just put them in ballet school (and let me tell you, Jasper looks awesome in tights!)

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_Prologue_

I can faintly seen them in front of me, their silhouettes sharp in the light from the spotlights, all pointed at me. The three directors of the exclusive Volturi Academy of Classical and Contemporary Ballet: Aro Vincenza, Marcus Santi and Caius Giuliano. They oversee the applications and subsequent auditions, and their ruthless methods of picking students have turned into urban legends among aspiring ballet dancers.

"You are aware, Miss Swan, that this is not like in all of those Hollywood dance movies you've no doubt seen," one of the dark figures say, I think it's Mr. Vincenza. I feel myself blush, how could he know? I don't have time to think it over before he continues: "No happy ending is guaranteed."

I take a deep breath. I knew this was going to be hard, but I had made it through the first two phases. I was eligible for applying, having danced since I was six. The Volturi Academy has rigorous standards. Still, thousands apply, whether they are eligible or not. A hundred get called to auditions, which in itself is an honor. Of those hundred, a handful is picked. Each new class is selected with care, and they are as exclusive as they are priviledged. If you graduate, you have a golden ticket in your hand, your diploma will make velvet ropes part. Even if you don't graduate, you have a high chance of getting into almost any other dance school if your record show you've been a student at the Volturi Academy. This is not a place for games.

"Sir," I answer the shadow. "I applied to study classical ballet. Not to indulge in teenage fantasies."

There, a simple and efficient answer. No need drone on and on about how ballet is my entire life, and how hard I've fought to get here. They know, no doubt they've heard all the sob stories. Personally, I think they ruin your chances.

"Very well, Miss Swan," the figure concludes. He sounds… content. "Ready when you are."

I make a last minute check. Clothes are neat, fitting, no irritating creases. Hair in a tight bun, no risk of getting distracted by stray tresses. Shoes fit perfectly, they're properly worn in, tied well. Everything is in order. I turn to look backstage, giving the woman controlling the sound system a quick nod. She returns the nod, and pushes a button.

A fragment of silence. Hyper-awareness. My heart beats like a piston in my chest, my fingers tremble slightly. I hear everything and nothing. Focus. I get into position, ready to show them that this Swan will not die on stage. The music suddenly thunders through the speakers, I exhale, and then…

_Then I soar._

I'm on autopilot, my body moving fluidly to the music. It's like an out-of-body experience, my mind detached from my body. I am jubliant, my heart trills with exultations. I remember my first ballet recital, a failure; the epic fail of my dancing career to be exact. After that, I fought. Fought to become better, testing my limits, never accepting failure as anything else but a challenge. The expression "blood, sweat and tears" was more or less invented for ballet. Bleeding toes, countless hours of rehearsals, disappointments… Ballet is passion, and I'm living it.

My mind returns when my body settles into final position and the music dies out. My blood is pure adrenaline, part of me is still soaring somewhere. I inhale deeply, trying to regain focus. I bow for the directors, waiting for them to say something, anything.

"Thank you, Miss Swan," another of the figures finally say calmly. "Please send in Mr. Tad on your way out."

I curtsy, fluttering off stage, thoughts racing through my head. Did I do well? Were they pleased? I open the door and step out of the auditorium, absentmindedly asking for someone named Tad to go in, and continue to the dressing room. I smile, pleased. I did my best.

Six weeks later I know I did. The embossed, posh letter carry the four words I wanted to see more than anything in the world.

_Welcome to Volturi Academy._

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**A/N**: So this is just a short prologue, a fillerchapter, really. I just needed it to introduce the story. Stay tuned for he official first chapter, it should be up as soon as I've edited it. Show me some love, please! :)


	2. Chapter 1: It's on

**A/N**: Yes, the official chapter 1, and Bella is off to school. Some basics: The Volturi Academy is in the US, though it's not specified where yet (in fact, it's not even specified in my mind), so if you have any suggestions where one could find this fine academy, do throw your suggestion my way! Anyhow, enjoy the chapter, and remember to leave me some love at the end!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just put some of them in leotards and made then dance ballet.

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_1. It's on_

"Oh Bella, I'm so proud!" my mom spluttered, and caught me in another bone crushing hug.

"Mom… Can't… breathe!" I wheezed, throwing my dad Charlie a begging look.

Charlie was usually a very quiet man, especially around my mother. I guess it was her personality that made him feel out of place. He was the epitome of the awkward silence, but at this particular moment I think he was rather enjoying himself.

My parents had divorced when I was five, and Renee took me and fled the dreary town of Forks, Washington, for the sizzling sun in Phoenix, Arizona. She needed space to collect herself, and to get that space, I was sent of to ballet classes. I had never been a confident child, usually playing alone. But in ballet, even if it was forced upon me, I found refuge. It was safe; a nice wave that took me in, taught me how to take control of myself (eventually, that is), much like Renee tried to take control of herself at home. I began my ballet career as a clumsy kid, climaxing in an epic fail at my first recital, an event I was more than happy to forget about.

I spent part of my summers with Charlie. Up until I was eleven, I was shipped off to Forks, and spent the summer months there. I guess it was fun, Charlie used to take me down to the Quileute reservation for barbecue parties with his friends there, and I'd get caught up in the moment and forget that I'd rather be dancing. When I was twelve, I got the chance to go to a ballet camp in California. I desperately wanted to go, but all those years of going off to visit Charlie for the summer, seeing his face light up when I stepped out of the plane… It gave me the worst guilty conscience ever experienced. Charlie was a good sport about it, though he didn't particularly like leaving home. He came with me to California, knowing how important ballet was to me, and we vacationed there together whenever I had time off from camp. It became a tradition after that, him and me going to California for three weeks.

"Come on, Renee," Charlie finally intervened, a playful smile on his face. "She's going to school, it's not like we're shipping her off to Vietnam."

I took hold of my mother's shoulders, looking her straight in the eye.

"Mom, I promise I will call you every week. No, every other day!" I promised her, smiling encouragingly.

She nodded wildly, making another attempt at hugging me senseless.

"I'll come home for every major holiday," I quickly added, averting her hugs. "You'll get Christmas and New Year, Charlie will get Thanksgiving and summer vacation."

"Okay…" my mom admitted, cooling down. The promise of me coming home, and not staying away forever always calmed her nerves. "Okay, sweetie. Let's go find your dorm."

Volturi Academy had their own dorms on campus, and I knew I would be sharing my dorm with two other girls. Naturally there were separate sections for boys and girls, but somehow I doubted it helped much… Teenagers were teenagers, and teenage ballet dancers were not that different from regular teenagers. The leotards and tutu's may make us look like serene, floating superhumans, but trust me, we're not unlike every other hormonal teenager.

We took as much stuff as we could carry, and set off, quickly finding my dorm, number 28. I swung open the door, almost dropping my things. It was more like an apartment than a traditional student dorm. We entered into a small hallway, which opened up to a large living area, with a small kitchenette in one corner. The living area was tastefully furnished in discreet colors, with furniture ranging from chairs to a coffeetable and a very squishy couch. Three doors lined one wall, of which one seemed to lead to a bathroom. That meant I would possibly share a room with one of the girls… Never mind, this was still the coolest thing I'd ever seen, and it had exceeded my every expectation. I jumped up and down, eagerly clapping my hands like a little girl on Christmas morning.

One of the doors opened, and a short girl with shoulder-length, black hair emerged.

"Hi, you must be Isabella!" she greeted, dancing over to us with a bright smile. She was indeed short, only reaching to my shoulders.

"Bella," I automatically corrected her. This would take some time, getting everyone to call me Bella instead of Isabella.

The pixiesque girl had alredy turned to my parents.

"You must be Bella's parents, so nice to meet you. I'm Alice Cullen, and I'll make sure Bella enjoys her time here."

She shook my parents' hands, and I could see Charlie moving into awkward-mode. Renee, on the other hand, was thrilled.

"Well, that is so nice of you, Alice! Tell me…" she began, and I feared the worst.

"Renee, don't give the young lady a heart attack," Charlie scolded her, and though he was clearly uncomfortable here, he managed to sound cheerful. "We've got piles of boxes to move. Why don't we leave the girls alone so they can get to know each other?"

Renee smiled meekly but obliged and was soon out the door with Charlie in tow. I made a mental note that I owed Charlie for this miraculous save.

With my parents gone, the room seemed awfully quiet. I clutched my bag tightly, trying to figure out something to say.

"Right," Alice said, breaking the silence for me. "That is your room," she continued, pointing towards the door to the farthest right. "You'll get the room to yourself, we didn't want to give you a complete shock by having to share with either one of us."

"We?"

"Oh, right, Rosalie. Rose is the other girl who lives here. She decided to 'bow out gracefully' about two hours ago, though I suspect she was running down the corridor as soon as she was out of the door."

Sounded like this girl didn't like me… I tried not to look affected.

"No, no, it's not like that!" Alice replied, as if she had read my mind. She took my hand, and dragged me into her and Rosalie's room, to the left of mine, and plopped me down on one of the beds. "Rosalie went to see her bf, they're cute as hell and basically joined at the hip."

"Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, his name is Emmett. He goes to college a couple of blocks away, studying sports medicine. Rose's parents despise him, they were all too happy with her previous beau, Royce. He was a pompous, pervert ass, who…"

Alice stopped herself, taking a deep breath. Note to self: do not talk about Rosalie's ex-boyfriend.

"Let's just say the world could do without someone like Royce-fu-King," Alice concluded.

"Alice?" someone called from the front door. It was not my mom and dad, but Alice shot up from the bed like a lightning bolt, and I followed her out.

A stunning boy, more of a guy, possibly a man, was standing in the doorway, a large box in his arms, trying awkwardly to hug Alice. He was smiling, his white teeth sparkling almost unaturally. His bronze hair was dishevelled, even more so, after Alice started attacking it, trying to make it lie flat against his head. I felt like I was intruding, this seemed like a private moment.

"This is the last of it," the guy told Alice. "Seriously, why do you need so much stuff here? Does Rose even fit into the room anymore?"

"I need my stuff!" Alice defended herself, smacking him lightly on the arm. "And Rose spends more time at Emmett's dorm than she does here, so it's a win-win situation."

The guy scoffed, putting down the box. He gave Alice a hug, and spotted me. He gazed at me for a couple of seconds, before nodding timidly. I blushed like a moron.

"Well, Alice, I'll see you soon," he said, letting Alice out of the hug. "Be good."

"Get l…" Alice began.

"I know!" he interrupted, waving his hand as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Your boyfriend's nice," I said, as soon as I figured the guy was out of earshot.

"Boyfriend?" Alice asked, confused. "That was my brother, how..? No, wait, okay, now I get it."

"What?"

"I get so used to hanging out Rose, she and I are... cousins, our mothers are sisters, so we know just about everything about each other. It's weird having someone around that you need to explain family relations to. Anyhow, that was my brother, Edward. Well, step-brother, technically."

"Divorced single-mom marries new guy?" I guessed.

"Orphaned," Alice replied, not missing a single beat.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"No worries," Alice smiled. "I was orphaned when I was five, spent two years in foster care before the Cullens adopted me when I was seven, thank God for that. That was sort of the jackpot win of my life. I don't really see myself as some orphan living off my step-parents. Edward is a brother to me. He plays piano, you know? Studies at a conservatorium in Chicago, a total dreamer. He's got some angsty artist-thing going on. Personally, I think he just needs to get laid, and fast."

Alice's frank sharing about her brother and herself made me a bit perplexed.

"All righty then…" was all I could say.

"Wait, you're not, are you..? You don't want to… you know, service him, do you?"

"What? God, no!" I exclaimed. "I can barely manage shared custody over a keychain teddybear, I'm not suitable for anything emotionally binding!"

My roommate fell over laughing. I tried to review my statement, but nothing sounded odd to me.

"I'm sorry, but shared custody?" Alice managed to squeeze out between laughs.

Oh, right. Not everbody has shared custody over an inanimate object.

"I share custody over a keychain teddybear with a friend."

"Why? I mean, first of all, aren't you a bit young to have shared custody over something? Which brings me to the second point: a keychain?"

"My mom and dad divorced when I was five," I began, walking over and settling down in the couch. "I spent my summers with my dad up in Forks…"

"Forks?"

"It's this small town in Washington State and yes, its name is really Forks. Anyhow, I spent my summers there, and my dad used to take me down to an indian reservation not far from town. He had some friends there, and since they had kids my age, he figured I could play nice with them. Took some time, but I found a friend, Jake."

"A guy, this is getting interesting!" Alice squealed happily.

"Once, when he was seven and I was nine, we sort of decided we loved each other and we 'got married', meaning he stole a ring from a keychain and jammed it onto my finger, the wrong finger I might add. We went back, and somehow managed to get my dad and Jake's dad to give us some pocket money. We ran over to the convenience store, and bought a teddybear keychain, that would be our good luck charm."

"Aw, that is so sweet!"

"Yeah, it was until I broke up with him later that night because I couldn't get the damn ring off my finger. Charlie had to come to the rescue. Next time we went there Jake and I had a sort of peace conference, and me being the 'expert' on divorces, I proposed that we share our mutual possessions."

"The keychain," Alice mused, nodding appreciatively.

"Yup. It was a good luck charm after all, it would be wrong for one of us to have more luck than the other," I said, smiling and remembering all the different ways we'd exchanged the keychain.

"So, you're still friends?"

"Hell yeah, we are. I have the keychain now. Jake let me have it a bit longer, seeing as he thought I needed a bit of extra luck to get through my first week."

"Hell, I was expecting some romance there at the end. Buzzkill!"

"Well, there's romance on Jake's side," I defended myself. "He got together with a girl from the rez, Leah, about a year ago. She's sweet, I guess."

"But..?" Alice coaxed, looking at me challengingly.

"She's intense… sort of. She used to scare the living shit out of me when I was younger, though that might directly correlate to the fact that she pulled the head off my favourite Barbie doll once."

Renee and Charlie took that moment to enter again, arms full of bags and boxes.

"What took you so long?" I asked them.

"Your mother got a bit carried away," Charlie replied in a strained voice, almost budging under from the weight of what looked like my tv covered by curtains.

"I did not!"

"Say no more…" I looked teasingly at my mom.

"So Phil didn't call?" Charlie demanded, looking at Renee.

Phil was mom's new boyfriend. Fiancé in fact, but I couldn't think of him like a fiancé. He was a bit younger than mom, shit, he could be my big brother! But, I figured as long as he can keep track of Renee's insanities, I will happily keep my mouth shut and accept him.

"He did…" my mom admitted.

"And you…"

"Let me guess, mom began talking, and like always she starts walking around, you followed her so she wouldn't disappear, and when she hung up, you were lost on campus?" I made a wild guess.

"It's a new city!" Renee replied defiantly.

"It's a school campus!"

"A big school campus!"

"Not really, mom."

Renee didn't cave, and I could hear her and Charlie discussing loudly down the hall when they went out to get the rest of my things.

"Your mom and dad are fun," Alice laughed.

"Superfun. My dad's passion in life is fishing, and my mom is the biggest scatterbrain on the planet."

"Scatterbrain?" someone said. "We're not talking about you, are we Alice?"

Both Alice and I looked to the door, and there stood the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Seriously, she could kick Barbie's ass.

"Hi, Rose," Alice greeted. "This is…"

But Rose held up her hand, and we saw she was on the phone.

"No, darling, I wasn't talking to you… Alice and the New Girl… In your dreams! Yes. Yes. Love you more, monkey man."

She hung up, putting her phone in her bag.

"Yeah, more like donkey," she said to herself. "The guy's hung like a…"

"Rose!" Alice again interrupted her. "Please, no visuals! Look here, this is better. This is Bella, our new room mate."

"Rosalie Hale, you can call me Rose," Rose greeted, stepping up to shake my hand.

I felt extremely stupid for being this fascinated by her beauty. She was, of course, perfect for a ballet dancer, limbs well-proportioned. But her face, it was beautiful to the exteme. Her eyes were blue, in fact so blue they bordered on violet. Her hair danced on her shoulders in soft curls, and her whole being just exuded confidence. I felt so inferior, I wanted to go into my room and never come out. Rosalie… Rose, she was beautiful, and she knew it.

"What's… your major?" I asked, not coming up with anything else to say.

"Classical. You?"

"Classical, too," I replied, fearing I would go through my years at the Volturi Academy constantly feeling inferior to Rosalie.

"Well, this is my second year, but I think we'll still see each other in some classes," Rose mused.

"Yeah, contrary to me, I'll be over with the cons, spoiling the fine art of ballet with modern dance," Alice sighed dramatically. "Not my words, mind you."

"Cons?" I asked carefully.

"Those who study contemporary ballet as their major. I heard Mr. Giuliano wanted an all classical ballet school, but both Mr. Vincenza and Mr. Santi said no," Rose told me. "Hot tip: Don't fuck with the directors."

"Fuck… as in..?"

"Don't mess with them," Alice clarified. "Get used to Rose's colorful language, she gets it from Emmett."

"Not that the other meaning would be any better…" Rose muttered with a smirk. "Seriously though, stick to your major. The cons are lucky, they can mix modern dance into their routines and not get an ass-whooping for it. You so much as think the words 'mixing it up' in one of Mr. Giuliano's classes, and you will hear him ravage on about the sanctity of classical ballet, and it gets really tiresome."

"I'm with you there. I mean, all of the directors have a reputation for being ruthless, but seriously, Caius Giuliano gives me the heebie-jeebies," Alice concurred, and shrugged her shoulders.

I thought I had been prepared for this school, but as Renee and Charlie came and went, always leaving my things on the floor, Rose and Alice (or Al, as she insisted I call her) kept on filling me in on things going on. The creed seemed to be not testing the directors, that one came up in various permutations. Lay low the first week, then start shining. Rose was the uncrowned expert of sucking up to teachers, while Al, despite being a freshman like me, already seemed to know every shortcut and secret way to the boys' dorm.

"Oh, and stay the hell away from anything suspicious," Rose told me warningly.

Renee and Charlie had just unloaded the last boxes, and had left for the day. Renee had of course pitched a fit, and this time it was way past Charlie's limits for what was okay, he grunted something, blushed and shuffled out of the room. The girl talk was put temporarily on hold while I tried to get Renee to chill and stop blubber. She eventually left, after I had promised her she could call when she got home, even if it would be in the middle of the night. After that we had relocated to Rose's and Alice's room.

"Like what?"

"Trust me, you'll see it when it crosses your way."

"Wow, way to be of help there…"

"Bella, the shit I'm talking about is so obvious not even a blind person could miss it. It oozes trouble like a motherfucker and you really don't want to get… involved."

"What, like drugs?" I asked, trying to get more information out of either of my roommates.

They shot each other a meaningful look, before Rose replied.

"Yeah… Sort of like drugs."

"Really, you shouldn't have to worry. Keep your act together, stay out of trouble."

Really? 'Cause nothing says trouble like a top notch ballet school. I really didn't see the threat. I was not stupid enough to fall into the drug- and steroid-hole, since the problem seemed to be related to that. I had tried pot once on a dare, when I was fifteen, and I puked my guts out.

"So, moving on!" Al chimed. "You excited about tomorrow?"

"I'm not," Rose replied, sounding bored. "It's probably same as last year. Mr. Vincenza gives a long, droning speech, presents the faculty, informs about major happenings for the semester and then it's on."

I felt my fingers tingle with excitement. Tomorrow it would all kick off, I'd be on my way to become a prima ballerina, or as I had phrased it when I was seven: A prima Bellarina.

"Oh, it is so on…" I muttered to myself, leaving my two roomies, and started moving my belongings into my room.

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**A/N**: Emmett told me cursing was good for Rose. Blame Emmett and his dimples, I have no will-power against him when he tag-teams with the dimples. Okey-dokey, here below be the place where you show me the much appreciated love, and in return I will thrown some Jasper in next chapter. ;)


	3. Chapter 2: Almost a Ballerina?

**A/N**: Thank you all who favourited and/or put this story on alert and special thanks to the two (!) who reviewed. As much as I like people putting me on author/story alert and favorite story/author... here's a hot tip: I like reviews better. You should see some of the review replies I've writted during my time here. You can almost pluck the happy out of the screen. Anyhoo, chapter 2 is here, Bella's first schoolday at the Volturi Academy. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just put some of them in ballet school.

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_2: Almost a Ballerina?_

"Students, esteemed colleagues, dear guests. Welcome to another exciting year here at the Volturi Academy of Classical and Contemporary Ballet."

I was feeling jittery, ready to just leap out of my chair as soon as this presentation was over. Rose had been right, it was boring. The most exciting thing was when a student from one of the upper classes performed a short recital and got a standing ovation for getting invited to dance with the American Ballet Theatre. Apart from that this had just been one droning speech after the other. The school board held the worst speech, and I caught a few glimpses of people snoring through it. The parent-teacher association, the alumni association, the foremost sponsors had each held speeches of various lengths, but now we were down to the last one, Aro Vincenza's official welcoming speech.

"It is with great excitement I look upon the new faces of our student body. We expect nothing less than wonders from you. To those who return to us for yet another year, show patience, take care of these new students, help them find their place at our school. Work hard, never give in. Mata Hari, the famous dancing spy, once said 'The dance is a poem in which each movement is a word'. Remember this. You have all been selected, we believe in your strengths and your ability to adapt to the ruling standards."

I felt Alice lean into me and whisper:

"Basically he's saying they own our asses so we better make it worth them picking us."

"All right," Mr Vincenza interrupted my contemplation about Al's statement. "Enough about us. It's time to officially being the new semester. Freshmen, please stay in your seats, you will be assigned mentors who will guide you through the first week. The rest of you may go, you can find your new schedules in the administration office.

Rose shot up from her seat next to Alice.

"See you guys later."

"Good luck with the devil duo," Alice whispered as Rosalie brushed past us.

"The what?" I asked, as we remained in our chairs.

Alice looked out over the moving crowd, trying to spot someone.

"There! See those two?"

She was pointing at a couple, moving towards the door. I couldn't tell if it was two girls, two boys or a girl and a boy, their faces and bodies were far too androgynous from this angle.

"What about them?"

"That's Jane and Alec Rushmore. They're some form of prodigies, only 15 or 16 years old. You think we are special because we got picked out of a thousand applicants? They got handpicked because the directors wanted them at any cost. Mr. Vincenza oversees their training personally, he calls them his Dynamic Duo."

I looked more intesenly at the couple. I still couldn't tell who was Jane and who was Alec, but the way they moved… It was almost syncronized.

"You see it too? Then you should see them dance. They're flawless, in as good as every aspect. Sadly they are also a couple of spoiled brats with no social skills. They function as one entity, always, conniving and backstabbing as soon as a 'threat' emerges. Rose guessed they're were responsible for over half of all the drop-outs last year."

"In other words, they're trouble?" I concluded silently, seeing them disappear out the door.

"Not so much trouble as plain evil. Trouble… happens upon you, sort of just bumps into you. This particular permutation of evil seeks you out like a freaking target-seeking missile. As long as you keep under the radar, they tend keep their sociopathic tendencies to themselves, and you should get away with a couple of condescending looks and smiles, and an odd jeer now and then."

I pondered this for a second, before realization hit me.

"Al, you're not just telling me this because it's general information, right?"

She looked away, and I my suspicions were confirmed.

"They study classical ballet." It was more of a statement than a question.

Alice groaned. God, there was more.

"And… Oh shit and freaking douche, I will have classes with them."

"Bella, you're my roommate and I can tell you'll be my friend, so I'm begging you. Do not give the devil duo any reason to come after you, 'cause they will. The little witch has a way of pushing your buttons if she catches onto them, she must've majored in pain infliction down in the pit."

"That bad, huh?"

"Don't get burned."

The freshman introduction began just then, and we both turned our attention to the stage. Mr. Giuliano, head of the Classical department, gave us some basic information about the first year, the curriculum and rules for the dorm. I saw Alice smirk when Mr. Giuliano stressed the matter of no unnecessary walking about the dorm at night, especially students trying to sneak into the boys' and girls' section respectively.

"I will be instructing a few of your classes, and while some of the faculty members may accept not showing up on time or in the required uniform, I expect you all to be in class, by the barre when I open the door. You should be in correct uniform, which for girls consists of a red leotard, flesh-colored tights, and for some classes, a white skirt. Boys wear black tights and white t-shirts. Girls should wear pointe shoes or flats, depending on whether the class requires pointe shoes or not. Boys should wear flats. Girls with long hair should wear it in a slick, tight bun. Any boys with long hair should seriously consider a haircut, though I will settle for a strict pony tail. Anything else, and I will without hesitation send you from class to get changed. If you need to buy anything to complete the uniform, contact the administation office. For this reason, I will accept an incomplete uniform for today, and today only."

He was old-school to say the least, and I think all of us understood that goofing around in his classes would be like begging for expulsion. Mr. Giuliano was content with his presentation, and the mentor assigning began. We were divided into groups of three or four, depending on our major, and each group was assigned a mentor. My group consisted of me, a girl named Bree, and two guys, Riley and Benjamin. Our mentor was a statuesque brunette, named Heidi. She started out by making us introduce ourselves and we all exchanged numbers, since there was a good chance we would either need to call each other or Heidi. Heidi then took us on a tour around the school, showed us where all the studios were, explained the schedule abbreviations and gave us tips about teachers. I focused on remembering where things were, so I wouldn't have to go with my face buried in a map, that would be borderline humiliating.

Our first class was set for 12.30, so Heidi took us for a quick bite to eat at 11, and sent us to our dorms at 12.00 to get changed, and reminded us where we had our class. I rushed off, taking a quick look at my shedule. Fantastic. Ballet technique. I didn't mind technique classes too much, it was the teacher-abbreviation that made my heart sink a bit. CaGiu. Caius Giuliano. Forget about getting cut any slack around here, I get tossed to the beast on my first lesson. I hurried into my room, changed into my tights, by chance the required color, and a black leotard, took my ballet shoes, and ran off to find the right studio.

Though I could be somewhat of a time optimist, I got there with ten-fifteen minutes to spare. I was first, and the feeling of being alone in this big studio was overwhelming. After changing from my tennis shoes to my ballet shoes, I ventured into the studio, looking around. Mirrors and barres covered three of the walls. I did a little warm up, stretching, going through the five positions, doing pliés. Still, I couldn't help myself. I was alone, no one would be here for at least ten minutes. I took position, beginning to repeat my audition dance. The world disappeared, I was one with my movements. Ballet always attracted me because of that feeling you got when you floated, seemingly lighter than air.

Of course, no good could lasts forever. A sharp giggle from the door pulled me out of my dance-induced high. I spun around, spotting the evil twins by the door, both dressed correctly for the class. The different dresscode made it easier to spot who was Jane and who was Alec, but they still had scarily androgynous features, especially Jane. They smiled at me, and just like Alice had said, it was a condescending smile. Like robots, they came towards me, and out of habit, I settled into first position.

"A freshman," Jane noted, after having observed me.

"The uniform?" asked her brother, scanning my outfit in a way I didn't really like.

Jane giggled, it didn't suit her.

"No," she then said sharply, her eyes focusing on my face. "The sloppy technique. She definitely needs to be here."

Those two were definitely evil. I didn't know them, hadn't talked to them, and I already hated them with a passion. They passed me, floating over to one of the barres, and took first position, standing still like statues. I wanted so bad to tell them to bite me, but I held my tongue, primarily because Alice had asked me not to test them, but also because they looked like they could take me seriously. Instead, I hurriedly took first position by the barre closest to me, my back against the evil twins.

One by one, students dropped in, and you could tell who were freshmen, not only because they wore incomplete uniforms, but also because looked scared as hell. Turned out that fear was legitimate. At 12.00 am sharp, Caius Giuliano opened the door, by which time all of us were gathered by the barre to the left of the door. All except one. An unfortunate girl, I think her name was Bridget, snuck in seconds later. Mr. Giuliano gave her an "if looks could kill"-look, told her to go learn the clock and sent her from class. I think I saw her cry on her way out. That single tell-off made everyone on edge, and it showed in the warm-ups.

Mr. Giuliano walked around, observing each one of us. I quickly figured out his way of judging students. If he was pleased, he continued. If he wasn't pleased, he would either grunt (which was catastrophic), hum (which was not catastrophic, but still not good) or purse his lips (meaning he could take great pleasure in making an example of the student. I know, because I was one of them).

We were doing pliés, when he stopped to observe me. I tried to be calm, tried to focus on my movements, but from the corner of my eye, I could see the pout.

"Ah, yes, Miss Isabella Swan," he said loudly, causing everyone to halt their movements.

This couldn't be good. He used my first name, and in the world of adults, that is never a good sign.

"Step forward," he ordered.

There wasn't much else to do but step up to him, trying not to look like a deer caught in the headlights of a monstertruck on acid.

"Miss Swan, I must say you were one of, if not the highlight of our auditions this year."

He smiled in a friendly way, but it didn't make me relax. Though to be considered a highlight by this monster of a director was an honor, and I could almost hear Jane gnash her teeth.

"Your movements in every aspect were disciplined, yet fluid, you were the dance," Mr. Giuliano carried on.

"Thank you, sir," I replied, feeling I needed to say something.

"Do enlighten me, Miss Swan. Why have you not brought that brilliancy to class? You are unfocused, your hand movements for the pliés are sloppy to the point of complete uselessness."

By all means, do not hold back on my account… If Jane had been dissatisfied with me getting praised for my audition, then this must have to be like Christmas to her; me getting picked on my technique, when she had pointed it out before class.

"I…" I began, but was interrupted.

"The older students can tell you that I do not care for excuses. They are irrelevant and in their worst form nauseating. Everyone else, move on to tendu. Miss Swan will be practising pliés until class is dismissed."

Mr. Giuliano motioned for me to go stand by the barre on the opposite side of the room, and so I spent the entire technique class doing pliés, while Jane and Alec both smiled snottily, and Mr. Giuliano constantly commented on my progress, or from his perspectvive; lack thereof. I knew my arms were my problem area, and trust me when I say I've put a lot of work into it. The problem disappeares when I dance, but pops up as soon as I try to break down single movements. It's irritating, and I hated being singled out for this minor inconsistency, when there were girls, whose pliés were a living nightmare.

I tried not to take this personally, but how the hell was that going to happen with the devil duo living off my so-called mishaps and Mr. Giuliano giving them the ammunition they needed? As soon as class was over, I quietly took my things, and disappeared out of class, heading for the dorm. I passed one of the smaller studios, when I heard Debussy's _Clair de Lune_ flowing out of it. I almost skidded to a stop. _Clair de Lune_ was one of my favorite classic pieces, who else seemed to think so? I tiptoed up to the door and peeked in.

He was tall and lean, almost gangly, but still muscular, not entirely a perfect build for ballet, but still very close. I scanned him, as he moved fluidly through the room. Nice ancles, gorgeous legs. My mind stuttered when my eyes moved over his butt. I scolded myself for being such a teenager. So what, he had a butt? Who didn't? "But his looks abnormally good in tights…" a small voice in my head told me. I shook my head, and continued surveying him. Strong shoulders, subtly masculine, it appealed to me. Then my eyes reached his face, and I almost stopped breathing. He had the most breathtaking face, a composition worthy of gods. Blond curls softly framed his face, where bright teal blue eyes were set under a square brow. The eyes were his most prominent feature, the color exquisite, sort of like Rosalies, only her eyes were violet. His lips were full, the kinds I would have no trouble dreaming about kissing. He was… wonderful.

The music died out, and I snuck away so as not to be discovered. Who was he? I definitely needed to know who that was. I know I wasn't really a relationship kind of girl, but for him… I'd definitely give it the old college try.

The horrible technique class was almost out of sight, out of mind for me, when some higher power decided to screw me over even more. The twins walked past me, and Jane, face blank, raised her eyebrow challengingly. Alec turned around.

"Bella, right? Too bad the e and a couldn't change places, then you'd almost be half a ballerina," he smirked devilishly. "Almost."

Then he and his sister floated away, and I was left furiously stomping through the corridors.

I really needed to vent, so a doorslam felt pretty good once I was inside the dorm. Unfortunately, Rose was home.

"God, could we be a little more drama queen?" she asked indignantly, her phone attached to her ear.

"Don't test me Rose, 'cause I really want to fucking kick something now!" I spat at her, huffing heavily.

Rose looked perplexed for a fraction of a second, before her realization dawned on her. She turned around.

"Babe, could you maybe go get a coffee..? There's a… situation. Okay, great. I'll see you in…" she turned around to peek at me. "Let's say ten minutes, okay? Love you more."

She hung up, and threw the phone on the couch.

"Okay, let's hear it."

"Those two… hellfiends are the nightmare of ballet past, and that fucking scarecrow asshat gives them exactly what they need to keep up their human appearances! How dare he single me out, I was not worst! Hell, one girl got a grunt so high I thought he was choking on his own tongue! Fucking hell, shit! Ass!" I yelled.

The silence that followed was almost tangible. Talk about blowing off steam, I was panting like I'd just run the marathon with concrete shoes on.

"Let me guess…" Rose said after a couple of seconds. "Technique class with Caius Giuliano and the glorified mini-demons?"

"Exactly! My arm movements were the teensiest bit off, and he made an example of me. If that wasn't enough, Hell-twins had pointed out my 'sloppy' technique before class, so for them this was like winning the freaking lottery on fucking Christmas Eve!"

"Exactly," Rose replied calmingly. "They got lucky. Trust me, those two will try to pick on anything, and sometimes when the cosmos decides it's time for a major hell-moment, the twins' opinions coincide with the teacher's."

I fell down on the couch, still wanting to kick the living shit out of something.

"Look, Mr. Giuliano is tough. Seriously, navy SEALs would fucking tremble in their socks if he got his claws into them. Technique is his creed, his sanctum, and for him to have students mess with it, especially with the small details, it's like spitting in church."

"You make it sound like he thinks we do it on purpose," I muttered sourly.

"Well, you never know…"

Then, someone knocked on the door.

"Hello?" Alice cautiously called out. "Is the storm over?"

Rose winked at me, and went to open the door. I shifted position in the sofa, leaning over the arm rest, my head almost touching the floor.

"Alice, you could've come in."

"Really, with Hurricane Katrina here blowing up a storm? I don't know about you, but I like my legs unbroken."

"I heard that," I said loudly. "And I will huff and puff you and your leotard butt into next week if you ever liken me to a ravaging hurricane again."

"I can work with that. How about Hells Bells?"

"Jake calls me that, so I guess it's okay."

"Jake?" Rose asked me, intrigued.

"My ex-husband. He was seven, I was nine, the ring came from a keychain, of which we now share custody. Yada yada yada…"

"Speaking of love life, Em is on his way over."

"Which means I will be banished from the room for tonight," Alice sighed dramatically. "Bella? Mind if I camp out with you?"

"By all means. Please tell me you're a pro at making ingenious plans for how to take down hellspawn?" I replied fleetingly, still hanging halfway off the couch's arm rest.

"I'm working on it…" Alice replied mischievously.

I lifted myself up again, settling down in the couch, dreaming back to that guy in the studio. He was wonderful, defintely a panacea for my crappy day.

"Al?" I asked. "How well do you know the guys here?"

"I know where they live, what else should I have to know?" she replied with a giggle. "So, who did you meet?"

"I have no idea. But he was… beautiful."

"No shit, Sherlock. All the guys here are beautiful, at least the students of the opposite sex."

"So hellspawn-Alec is beautiful?" I asked teasingly.

"Bella, I was talking about humans, not robots. Anyway, ask Rose, she's been here long enough to actually learn their names…"

I was about to ask Rose, when there was a sharp rap on the door. Rose pranced quickly up to the door, and swung it open, then threw herself at whoever was standing there. I somehow managed to create a scenario where the one knocking the door wasn't Rose's boyfriend, but Mr. Giuliano. That would've been a sight.

"Babe, you really want to do this in the corridor?"

The voice was raw, full of laughter, and when the owner of it stepped in, I could see it fit him perfectly. I could also tell he was perfect for Rosalie. Emmett was a brawny guy, a head taller than Rose, and he was undeniably hot. Muscled, tanned, and I thought I spotted a tattoo of something on his left arm. His face was appealing, all dimples and broad smiles. Short dark brown curls grazed his brow, his hazel eyes sparkling. How could Rose's parents hate this guy?

"Well fuck me sideways, if this place isn't turning into Babe Mansion!" Emmett exclaimed as he spotted me and Alice.

Right, so I could see where the language might upset Rose's parents, but otherwise… Emmett seemed to zero in on me, being a new face here and all, and he stepped up to me, cocking an eyebrow and smiling widely.

"Well, well, if this isn't a little prima ballerina? Emmet McCarty, pleasure to meet you."

"Bella…" I stuttered, fighting to keep my head from floating off into oblivion.

"Keep your pants on, Emmett, she only just moved in here, and I like her!" Alice remarked pointedly.

"Oh, come on, Sprite, I was just getting to know your friend."

"Yeah, and if you don't stop it, right now, and come back here, I will make sure you will have to get thoroughly reacquainted with your balls. Okay?" Rosalie told him sweetly, though she clearly meant business.

Emmett threw up his hands in resignation and backed away slowly, before sweeping Rose off her feet, heading towards the bedroom.

"Wait, Rose!" Alice yelled. "I think Bella wanted to ask you something."

I shot daggers at Alice. Sure, I wanted to know who the mystery guy was, but perhaps not in front of Emmett! Emmett nevertheless turned around so Rose could face us.

"Yes?" Rose said, her face glowing with joy.

"Well, I saw this guy on my way back from class… He was kind of cute… Anyway, he was in one of the small studios, third door down from where mr. Giuliano holds technique class. He had blonde hair, teal…"

"Teal blue eyes, and his turnout sucks like a mother-effer?" Rose finished, smiling knowingly.

"Not sure about the turnout, but you've got the eyes right," I replied. This sounded promising, Rosalie seemed to know him.

"His name is Jasper, he trains there every Tuesday at 1.30, 'cause seriously, his turnout sucks ass."

Jasper. Even the name was beautiful, so in tune with him. Or maybe that was me doing a ridiculous amount of internal swooning.

"You know him?" I asked instead.

"Sure I do," Rose said, looking like the cat who ate the canary. "He's my brother."

There seemed to be a "whoosh", and I'm pretty sure my brain imploded. Jasper, the ballet eyecandy, was Rosalie's brother.

Fuck… Me.

* * *

**A/N**: Not much Jasper in here, but a glimpse, a very good one (I put him in tights for you!). Leave some review love and I'll try to update fast!


	4. Chapter 3: No Win Situation

**A/N**: Thank you again to everyone who favourited and set me and/or this story on alert. Perhaps one day you will be bold enough to write something. I only bite in self-defense. ;) Also thank you to the ballet dancer who reviewed and made me feel really good about myself for not trashing the art of ballet completely. Seriously made my day! Moving on to chapter three, with promise of more Jasper. Enjoy it, folks!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I... you know by now I stuck some of them in ballet school. I blame the tights.

* * *

_3. No Win Situation_

"Alice!" I hissed after Rose and Emmett had disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door. "You could've warned me! Fuck!"

"About what? It's not like I could've predicted that you would fall for Jazz!" Al defended herself, avoiding my hysterical expression by appraising her nails.

"First of all, I haven't fallen for him! And second, you could've said that Rose had a brother!"

"And that would've helped how? You still didn't know that Rose had a brother. Twin brother to be exact. Come to think of it, they're like the nice, human version of Jane and Alec..."

"Okay, maybe not," I interrupted her. "But someone as beautiful as that, with eyes like those has to be related to Rose!"

"You are aware of how that is completely illogical? One: yeah, you've fallen for him. Two: you're losing me here."

"Okay, so maybe I like him. It's irrelevant! I'm embarrassed, Rose has something to hold against me, and… oh, shit, she will probably tell Jasper!"

"Calm down, Bella, she'll probably say nothing. At least not straight out," Alice tried to calm me. Didn't work.

"First day of school, and I'm already having a heart attack, thanks a lot, Al!"

"It's not as bad as it seems…"

"No, it's worse!"

"How can it be worse? Rose will probably tease you, there will be innuendos and incessant giggling, you will blush and wish you'd never said anything about Jazz, but I promise, she'll lose interest in a week, tops. First of all it's Jasper, it's not nearly as much fun to her. Second of all, Rose is far too self-indulgent to linger on something so insignificant like another girl having a crush on her brother."

"Another girl?"

"Jazz has quite the track record with female fans. I blame the tights, his legs look mighty fine in them…"

"Alice! Not helping!" I moaned, trying not to speculate about just how many Jasper-fans this school had, and how many Jasper-fans there were outside of school...

"Okay, fine. Jazz is sort of like Edward. He, too, has some angsty goddamned whatever-thing going on, he hasn't been on a date since we were 16."

"Still not helping…"

"Though, thinking about it, that might be because Rose and I crashed his date in a less-than-sober state…" Alice mused, ignoring my tortured sigh. "Maria never called him back after that incident. He never really forgave us for that..."

"This is getting nowhere. I'll just have to accept it. Rose has a gorgeous brother, who looks like a god in tights, and because the cosmos is a shitty place that likes to screw people over, I have to like him. I will go ponder this in the shower," I decided, trying to sound chipper and flippant.

"Thatta girl, Bells!" Alice yelled after me.

Showers usually calmed me, getting muscles loosened up after practice, and on occasion getting my head straight, though I suspected that was a lost cause in itself. If there was anything I could be famous for, it was for thinking too much. Like this thing about Jasper. My mind was seemingly etched to the image of him dancing to _Clair de Lune,_ looking awesome in tights, while simultaneously comparing him to Rose, trying to find resemblances between them, and fighting off the hysteria behind Alice's comment about "another girl having a crush" on him. Multitasking will be the death of me, I swear.

Sadly, I was just as wound up when I exited the bathroom as when I had entered it. I changed into sweats and a worn t-shirt, and took to doing pliés, using our kitchen counter as a barre. I'll be damned if I would let this mess up my chances of mending myself in the eyes of Caius Giuliano.

"Oh for the love of God, Bella, it's not that bad!" Alice exclaimed, eyeing me from the couch. "Tomorrow will probably be like today, hopefully minus your incident with the evil twins and the resident Frankenstein. If I ask nicely, Rose might just let the whole thing slide, and…"

She stopped, cocking her head and looking at me, or more specifically, at my legs.

"What?" I asked, looking at her curiously. "Sorry Al, you can't have my legs, I'm rather attached to them."

"No, no, you…" Alice continued off-handedly. "It's just… Nothing. It's nothing. Tomorrow will be fine, you'll see."

"Alice…"

I didn't have to know her well to know that Alice looking at somebody like that didn't mean "nothing".

"Your pliés look fine to me. Mr. Giuliano must've been bodysnatched, or something,"

"Stop changing subject, spit it out!"

"Hey, I look at your legs, give you a compliment on your pliés, and you say I'm changing subject? You dance with your legs, Bella, not with your spleen."

"Yeah, you stared at my legs, and before that you were talking about how tomorrow wouldn't be a complete disaster for me, and how did my spleen get into this?"

"It was there, very conveniently," Al quipped, dodging my initial statement.

"You're not gonna answer me, are you?"

"I thought I had."

"Pixie!"

"Bellarina."

I growled at her. Alice, in turn, stuck out her tongue.

"You know you love me…" she said teasingly, pulled out her cell phone, her fingers clattering away.

"Who are you texting, Gossip Girl?" I asked warily.

"The tooth fairy… No wait, Santa Claus! Fits the time of year better."

"Al…" I started walking towards her.

"Harassing people is not an attractive trait, Bella."

"Neither is withholding information. Actually, I think that's a legal offense, I can call Charlie and ask."

"Yeah, right, what court would take on that case? 'Oh, I'm sorry, Your Honor, Bella here thinks I'm out to get her'."

"Alice!" I groaned, slumping down on the couch beside her, trying to get a peek at what she was writing. "You're killing me here!"

"I do not respond well to begging," she replied with a knowing smile, shifting her position so I couldn't see the cell phone screen.

"Then what?" I leaned closer to her, trying to give her the puppydog eyes.

"I have been known… on occasion… to go on shopping sprees. People tend to clear out a room if I mention it. Some have come back in a state of shock, some have never recovered…"

Shopping. Great. I disdained shopping, avoiding it at any cost. Was it worth submitting myself to something that was clearly not good for my mental health just to know who Al was texting with? I considered it for a while, before letting out a big huff of air, leaning back.

"Fine, never mind," I grunted, not pleased with the outcome.

We sat quiet for what seemed like an eternity, the only thing breaking the silence being Alice's phone and the clatter of her fingers as she answered text after text. I only left the couch to get something to drink, otherwise we were both glued to the couch.

"I'm bored," Alice proclaimed after half an hour of silent texting. "I wanna do something."

"Like what?" I didn't even bother bringing up the obvious secret she was keeping, I was just as bored as Al was.

"We could go see someone," my roomie suggested.

"No, you will not take me to see Jasper," I replied sharply.

"Fine. Let's go see…" Alice bobbed over to me, letting me see her cell phone, which was now showing her phonebook. "Not Anton, he's desperate. Not Heidi, my group told me she was a notorious attention-seeker. Jasper was not an option for you… Hmm…"

"Alice, how can you know so many people here? You're a freshman, right, or has there been some shift in the space-time-continuum that I'm not aware of?"

"I visited Rose a lot her first year. What can I say, I'm a people-person."

"Are you sure you don't mean a guy-person?" I snickered, getting another stuck-out-tongue-face. "So, who will we invade?"

"Felix," she said, swiftly hitting the dial-button.

"Felix?"

"He happened to kick my ass at DDR last time I was here, and he need to be brought out of the delusion that he is a DDR-master," Alice whispered, and then I faintly heard someone answer the call. "Oh, hi, Felix! It's Alice. Yeah, yeah, the wonder of caller id, how would you ever survive without it... Look, I seem to remember you being particularly shitty about your lucky DDR-win last spring. You bet it was lucky! I call rematch! Me and my girl will be over there in ten, and we'll see about that! See you, Felix!"

"The dance mat game? God, I suck at that," I snorted, remembering the one time I had played DDR. Cutting the story short: I lost, bigtime.

"Then this is a perfect practice-opportunity for you. Come on."

Alice jumped off the couch, ready to head out the door.

"Alice..? I don't know, but… maybe you'd like to change out of your leotard..?"

"Fuck… I can't go into the room, well, not unless I want to scratch my eyes out afterwards. You wouldn't happen to have anything I can borrow, would you?"

"My pants are probably too long for you, but I might have a skirt that wouldn't look two sizes too big…" I answered, and we relocated to my room.

There, I got to know just how much Alice liked clothes and shopping. She criticized my wardrobe, well, the part I had unpacked at least, scrutinizing every piece of clothing, stating that I was coming along for a "nice shopping trip asap". I tried to protest, but Alice already had her mind set. She borrowed a khaki skirt and a navy blue camisole, while I changed my sweats to jeans, and kept the shirt I was wearing

"You don't think that's a bit too… well, fancy for a dance mat challenge?" I asked Alice, looking at her outfit as we left the dorm.

"It's a tactical move," Alice replied, a wicked smile on her face.

She easily orientated us along the corridors, until we crossed over the boys' section. A few of them looked appreciatively at us, one even whistled at Alice, and she gave him a dazzling smile in return. I could hear him and his friends holler behind us.

Alice finally stopped outside a door, knocking determinedly, doing a last minute check of herself.

There was a slight rumble behind the door, before it flew up, revealing a tall, muscular guy with sandy brown hair, and piercing hazel eyes.

"Alice, always a pleasure to have you over so I can defeat you," he greeted Alice, then looked at me. "Maybe I'll even defeat your lovely little friend."

"Yeah, you're probably looking at tonight's loser, I totally suck at DDR," I replied, smiling. "Hi, I'm Bella Swan."

"Felix, welcome to our crib." Felix stepped out of the doorway to let us in.

It looked like a basic guy pad, with a certain level of chaos ruling. The outline of the room was the same as Alice, Rose and mine, but the sofa was placed almost in the middle of the living room section, so as to give room to a large tv-set that was placed along one wall. Another guy was sitting by the tv, hooking up the dance mat game to the tv. Most of the lamps were dimmed, so the room was semi-dark

"That's Peter, resident tech guy, and proud owner of the dance mat," Felix introduced the guy sitting on the floor.

"Hi, Peter!" Alice called out, smiling.

Peter gave us an absent wave, engrossed in getting the technical stuff to work.

"So… is it just the two of you living here?" I asked, looking around the room.

"Nah, we're three here, but mr. Grumpy's in his room. The way he's sulking I'm thinking he's turning into a girl on us," Felix laughed, nodding toward the door to the farthest right.

"Hey, Bella, come here, let's claim the couch," Alice said, anxiously tugging my arm.

Just then, the door to mr. Grumpy's room swung open, and Alice pushed me down onto the couch. But it was too late, I saw who walked out into the living room. It was Jasper, my ballet eyecandy, Rosalie's brother. There is no justice in this world. I instantly flushed tomato red, which was absurd really, he didn't know who I was. But I could only think about two things:

a) He looked just as good in regular clothes as he did in tights.

b) I was gonna kill Alice. Slowly and torturously, and preferably with something blunt and heavy.

"I though I heard my cousin's fair voice," Jasper said, smiling at us.

His voice was melodious, with a slight Southern drawl, which I found really fucking attractive. Suddenly I was thankful that Alice had pushed me down on to the couch, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stand on my feet with him close. Okay, that might have been a bit exaggerated.

"Jazzy!" Alice squealed, lightly jumping over the couch, tripping over to Jasper.

"Come on, Alice, you saw me just last week, you act like I'm returnin' from the North Pole."

"As if. In that case I'd be desperate and ask you if you nicked anything from Santa's workshop."

"Clearly, I temporarily forgot who I was talkin' to," Jasper smiled, looking around the room. Of course, his eyes stopped on me, the unknown face.

"Who do we have here? Don't tell me she's your subject?"

"No..!" I blurted out, blushing even more. I hoped it didn't show that much in the dimmed light.

"Don't be silly, Jazz. This is Bella, she's mine and Rose's new room mate."

Jasper walked up to me where I sat on the sofa, taking my hand, shaking it lightly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Bella," he almost whispered, his hot breath hitting my face, making me if possible even more... stupid. "I do hope you're good at this, or else Felix will not let us forget about it."

"Sorry… I pretty much suck at this," I replied, feeling like a total moron. I had mentally ogled this guy's butt earlier today. I needed a reality check, badly. "It's… nice to meet you, too, by the way."

"Well, I'm in good company, then, I'm no DDR-master myself." Jasper grinned mischievously, turning to Peter. "You done soon?"

"Almost… Yes! There, all set!"

"Okay, people, let's dance!" Felix howled, and I thought I picked up on something in the look he gave Alice. "Ladies first?"

"You're so toast…" Alice said coolly, stepping onto the dance mat.

Alice did a first good round, enough to make Felix do two things: he had his eyes more or less etched to Alice's torso, and I understood why the camisole was a tactical move. Towards the end, though, Felix's glance moved to the scorebox, and he started crowing loudly everytime Al missed a step. When she stepped off the mat, hands triumphantly raised in the air, I caught her with a "if looks could kill"-gaze, and kinda wished it would work. She tried to shrug her shoulders discreetly and looked guilty.

"Alice, a word… Please," I said sternly, when she sat down next to me. I didn't give her time to answer, but took hold of her and hauled her away from the couch. As soon as we were out of the immediate earshot of the guys, I unloaded.

"Al, how could you! You promised me we weren't going to go see Jasper!" I hissed, looking anxiously over Alice's shoulder towards Jasper.

"We aren't visiting Jasper," Alice replied in a whisper, trying to appease me. "We're visiting Felix."

"Yeah, who happens to live with Jasper, don't tell me that's a coincidence!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you that, right?"

"Alice!"

"I just wanted you two to meet, you need to chill out about this. He's just Jasper."

"He's not!" I protested, trying real hard not to raise my voice, which right now was very hard not to do.

"Okay, so do enlighten me, about what he is. After all, I'm only his cousin, what in the world would I know about him?"

"He's… handsome, he listens to Debussy, he can dance, I don't care about his turn outs, his accent makes my knees feel like jelly, and he's… nice."

"Seriously, do you always get this illogical when you have a crush on someone? I trump that easily. His nickname is Jazz, he began dancing when he was six, he occasionally smokes to piss his parents off. He's moody, he got the accent from when the family lived in Austin up until him and Rose were 9. Rose got rid of the accent, he didn't. He likes peanut M&M's and is saving up to buy a Ducati."

"A what?"

"A Ducati! A motorbike! Shit, have you been living under a rock or what, girl?"

"Oh… Okay, so your info was better, but it doesn't matter. I didn't want to meet him like this!"

"Like what?"

"Like you're shoving us together in a room and asking us to play nicely."

"Hey, I'm only asking you, he's oblivious and for the most part well-mannered."

I sighed, massaging my temples. Why did she have to be so damned… right. This was all me. Me freaking out, me over-analyzing, me being a complete fool.

"You two okay over there?" Felix asked, having finished his round. "It's your turn, Bella. Oh, and by the way, Alice, I beat your score!"

I gave Alice another deathglare.

"You owe me. Bigtime," I whispered threateningly to her, before walking over to the dance mat.

Ballet was my forte, I excelled in it. Any other dancing and I was back to being a klutz. Great. I was going to make an ass out of myself in front of the guy I was having a crush on.

Oh, joy...

* * *

**A/N**: And the dancemat comp (Alice refused to let me call it anything else. Very competitive gal) will continue in the next chapter. Leave a review and I just might put Jasper back in tights, too... Anyone else (except me and Bella) out there who like Jasper in tights? Anyone? :)


	5. Chapter 4: HotBothered

**A/N**: Thank you so much for the shown support, I think I now have more story alerts on this fic than any of my other fics, and it really means a lot. It's my first Twilight-fic, so the fact that people put it on alert makes me feel all goody inside. It kind of dawned on me last weekend: Reviews are fun to get, but it shouldn't be the priority. I also know I made a vague promise to have this done by the beginning of the week, turned out that fell through for various reasons. But, as they say: better late than never. Enjoy chapter 4!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. By now, you should know what I did to them.

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_4. Hot/Bothered_

As I predicted, I took jumbo position in the dance mat challenge. I positively sucked, though both Alice and Jasper (or as he dubbed himself: my DDR-sucking partner in crime) cheered me on as I desperately tried to hit the right button on that damn mat. Me, Peter and Jasper were lightyears away from Alice and Felix, whose competitiveness really showed when Alice took the lead after the second round. She chose a pretty upbeat song that had her tits bouncing all over the place, completely throwing Felix's concentration, resulting in him making a terrible round two, which in turn resulted in a cursing rant so bad I thought my ears were gonna crumple up and fall off. Alice was beyond happy when she was crowned winner, and she made a point of teasing Felix relentlessly.

"Didn't I tell you Bells? I rule this shit!" she cheered manically, bouncing down onto the sofa, convieniently jostling me closer to Jasper.

It made me want to inflict a lot of pain, but unfortunately, I'd have to kill off the entire room to keep the whole thing hush-hush. Though killing off four people might just result in the opposite.

"Alice..!" I instead hissed irately, giving her a pointed look.

No surprise, she didn't care. She even tried to get Felix to sit down next to her, so as to push me so close to Jasper I'd almost have sit on his lap, which I wouldn't fucking tolerate. Thankfully, Felix was not in the mood for indulging in Alice's shitty cloak and dagger-technique, but proposed a dance-off between the two of them, seeing as the score now was 1-1. Alice, always the competitive little sprite, accepted without hesitation. She didn't catch Felix's wicked grin, and then it was too late. They both shook on a rematch. What Felix didn't say before shaking on it, was that the rematch would be executed at the highest level, which apparantly Alice had never played before.

A rather long, and to me seemingly fucking asinine, discussion about sportsmanship ensued. Apart from the loud voices, it was pretty funny to watch. Petite Al yelling at Felix for being "a fucking moron with shit for brains and no sense of sportsman-fucking-ship at all". Felix, more than a head taller than her, just smirked in reply, trying to flirt his way out of losing his balls. Yeah, it was almost funny. The loud voices gave me a headache, and I tried my best blocking it all out, massaging my temples.

"You should've seen last time," Jasper said, sounding mildly entertained. "It was basically the same, Alice yellin' up at Felix, Felix tryin' to flirt with her… Personally, I'm thinkin' this is just some sick mating ritual that I hopefully won't have to see the end of."

I snickered at this, but there was definitely something to Jasper's statement. The way those two were yelling at each other, it was like watching a married couple bicker.

"Don't mention it though, not tonight at least. They'll both deny it and then yell at you for takin' sides, and then they yell at each other for being so stupid as to think any one of us would take hers or his side."

"You got any Tylenol or something?" I asked, trying to smile as prettily as I could. Yeah, that was a lost fucking cause…

Jasper nodded, going into his room and returning a minute later with a Tylenol and a bottle of water for me.

"Bring a note from the nurse next time, it'll save you the spectacle of having to get up on that mat and the subsequent head ache," Jasper commented with a grin.

"Oh, if only it was the dance mat…"

"Rough day?" Jasper sat down beside me again.

"Shitty from start to finish, bascially. I'm assuming you know who the hell twins are… Well, they came after me, and then Mr. Asshat director came after me."

"Giuliano? He's been on me since my first day. You learn to ignore the jeers after some time, it just gets a bit tiring to hear the same things over an' over. What's he pickin' on?"

"My pliés. According to him they are, and I quote," I raised my hands to use airquotes. "'Sloppy to the point of complete uselessness'," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Ouch! He was easier on me. My turnouts were so bad that 'a four-year-old with a pegleg could do them with greater finesse'," Jasper retorted with a broad smile.

"Wow, he really knows how to give constructive feedback…"

We both laughed about it, before the awkward silence fell over us like a dark fucking cloud. I didn't want to say anything, because my brain was moving into moron-mode, so it was in my best interest that I decided to keep my trap shut and wait for someone else to break the ice for me.

"So, let's see it."

I'm really starting to believe what Alice said about Jasper being well-mannered. Saving me from having to make an even greater fool out of myself than I already had. In Bella-world, that made him eligible for sainthood. Saint Jasper, savior of the awkward moments.

"See what?" I asked confused, because his statement could work on so many twisted levels in my mind.

"The pliés. You show your useless pliés and I'll show you my worthless turnout," Jasper explained, and the smile he gave me could've made me do the jig in my underwear and not think a second about it.

"Only if you promise not to pull a Caius Giuliano on me, 'cause I won't take responsibility for the consequenses," I told him challengingly, and got up from the couch, and he quickly followed me to the kitchen-section where I again used a table for a barre.

It felt strange, doing pliés in front of Jasper, but at the same time, I felt oddly pleased with having him looking at me, really intently, his eyes scanning me from top to bottom. Exhibitionist Bella was having a field day with this, basking in the knowledge of Jasper watching me, while Normal Bella sort of gawked and rolled her eyes at her alter ego, but accepted the situation because, hey, it was Jasper and he was fuckhot.

After a series of pliés, none of which I even tried to analyse whether they were good or bad, I let go of the tabletop, and looked at Jasper expectantly.

"Well?" I said, smiling meekly. "Were they as bad as the monster-director said they were? I know they're not top-notch or anything, but they aren't useless, right?"

I desperately wanted him to tell me that my pliés were fine, that Caius Giuliano was a madman and a shitheaded idiot. I got none of that. Jasper didn't answer, just stood there with a mysterious smile playing on those gorgeous lips that I could so easily imagine myself kissing senseless. It felt rather unnerving with him saying nothing, and I was about to hit overanalyze-mode for the second time today, when he moved towards me, positioning himself behind me. He took my hand in his, and I felt a surge of electricity go through my body, making me flinch.

"I'm not some sort of master of pliés," he said in a low, husky voice that turned my knees into jello in two seconds flat. "But… Try it more like this."

He began doing demi pliés in first position, still holding my hand, so I could move with him. I followed his movements, and I could feel the subtle changes in my arm movements as he guided me through a series of pliés, but none of that mattered much. He was so close, and I wanted him closer, much, much closer. Still, I couldn't act on it, it was not… appropriate or whatever. He was this gracious, good-looking, obviously talented and really cool guy, and I was… Bella. Bella with the occasionally foul mouth, pliés that apparantly sucked and whose strongest emotional tie was to Jake, and only because of that key chain. I was torn between feeling plain beside him, and feeling like I soared to a whole other level because he was there, making me reach new heights.

"You were good," he said appreciatively when we had finished.

My head was swimming with emotions and impressions. It felt so good to finally get it right and I needed to remember this for next technique class. Jasper was still close, and there was that energy that somehow seemed to pulsate vibrantly between us, though I'm pretty sure that was my heart rate going ballistics.

"Thank you…" I whispered, as Jasper let go of my hand.

"Bella and Jasper sitting in a tree..!"

Both of us snapped our heads up, and I could feel Jasper tense up and step away from me. Felix had spotted us being all nice and cozy. He completely ruined that perfect moment for me, and for that I wanted to cut out his tongue, rip his balls off and fucking hamstring him, not necessarily in that order.

Jasper mumbled something about Felix being immature, then excused himself and disappeared into his room.

"Felix!" Alice yowled, smacking Felix wherever she hit him. "Not nice!"

"What?" Felix asked, not seeing why he deserved to get harassed. "What did I do?"

"You are such a bonehead, no wonder you don't have a girlfriend," Al chided him.

"Preaching to the choir, sprite. You're just upset, 'cause I'm whooping your butt at DDR."

"You're so not getting the point, and as for the game: it is not over, I demand rematch, immediately!"

And… they were back. I was thankful that they didn't linger overly long on me and Jasper and our brief moment of being all cute and close. Alice, intent on not being the loser of the evening, stomped back to the tv-set, ordering Peter to get the game going.

"Alice? You think you can fend for yourself?"

"You're leaving?" Alice asked me, her eyes fixed on the tv-screen.

"I'm tired and I have a head ache, I really need to sleep," I explained.

I didn't lie. The head ache was still there, though it was slowly dissipating thanks to the Tylenol. The sleepiness, on the other hand, did not go away, and I could already feel my eyes drooping. Plus, Jasper was gone, so there was nothing for me here to do anymore.

"Okay, babe, you want me to come with you?"

"No, kick ass until he loses, I can find my way back to the dorm."

"Got it. Just a little tip… Cover your ears when you enter the dorm. There are some things you do not want to hear. Trust me, I'm scarred for fucking life."

I chuckled, but promised I would take all necessary precautions so as not to be fazed by Rose and Emmett being all primal.

"I had a really good time, guys," I said as I was going out the door.

"You want us to tell Jazz that?" Peter yelled cheerfully after me, and I could hear Alice responding in my place, threatening him with various things, most of which concerned severing bodyparts.

I managed to get back to the dorm, getting lost only once. Yeah, Renee had transferred part of her scatterbrain-gene to me, but at least I didn't give up and break down like she often would. I took Alice's advice, covering my ears as soon as the doors swung open. I kicked it shut, which efficiently made my presence known, and I was hoping they would hear that, since I didn't have any ear plugs with me. Spending the night trying to sleep through Rose's and Emmett's humping was not something I was looking forward to. I hastily made myself ready for bed, brushed my teeth fast and tried to block everything out, even my residual feelings from the Jasper-incident. There had obviously been something about Felix teasing us that made him uncomfortable, and as much as I tried, it did kind of sting. The scene played over and over in my head, the magical moment with him so close, and that instant he stiffened and just locked himself away. The thoughts wouldn't go away, and I was still half-awake when Alice snuck into my room two hours later.

"You win?" I whispered when she entered.

"You're awake?"

"Can't sleep," I replied shortly.

"The Jazz-situation?" Alice offered, sympathy in her voice.

I deliberated how I should answer that question. I didn't have to, Al took my silence as a 'yes'.

"Felix was such an ass, I so wanted to fucking drive his head through a wall. I mean, they guy is obviously smart and talented, but sometimes you'd think he's still in junior high. You and Jasper…"

"Look, Alice, I'm really tired, and it was nothing. He helped me with my pliés, that's all," I said harshly, cutting off the conversation.

"It was not just that, and you know it," Al argued, sitting down on my bed.

"Imagine all you want."

"Bella, please don't be mad at me, I just want you to know you looked…"

"Alice…"

"Okay, I won't talk anymore, you're tired, I'm tired… I can take the couch, if you want."

"Don't be silly, you can still bunk with me," I yawned, turning over to give Alice some space in the bed.

Alice silently clapped her hands, and disappeared out the room to get ready for bed. She returned ten minutes later, and got in under the covers. We lay there back-to-back, trying not to jostle the other out of the bed.

"I still know what I saw…" she whispered into the darkness, certainty in her voice.

"Good night, Alice," I sighed in response. I know what I felt. I And it was heavenly, right up to the second where Felix's comment crashed the illusion.

* * *

Days floated past in a swirl of blurry images. The hell-twins seemed to have zeroed in on me, whispering jeers to me whenever an opportunity presented itself. I ignored them, and in the following technique class I managed to get Caius Giuliano to temporarily back off. He wasn't completely satisfied with my arm movements for the plié, but I didn't get singled out. On the contrary, he ignored me, passing me by, no matter how hard I tried to prove myself.

Jasper was nowhere to be seen, and his absence more or less cemented the idea in my head that he was trying to make a point about us hanging out, or rather not hanging out. It was clear that getting caught in a situation like that by his roomies and his cousin was not something he was comfortable with, and so he distanced himself. I was sure of it, and it got to me, but I couldn't show it. Alice had tried to push me to talk about it the first days, but I didn't cave. I didn't want to show that I took it personally, so I shut down completely, not even responding to Rose's playful innuendos (since Alice of course had told Rose about my cozy one-on-one with Jasper).

I immersed myself in my classes, trying to push away my feelings about the whole thing. My days were packed, and for that I was thankful. I had pointe work with a woman named Irina Denali, a very strict but at the same time very engaging teacher, whose first order was for me to get new pointe shoes, stat. Thursdays were mostly dedicated to academic studies, and I was not pleased to take up French again, and the teacher, Laurent Da Revin, really pushed us with homework. I don't know who told on me, but not one hour after my first French-class was dismissed, Alec and Jane just "happened" to bump into me rather hard, and I dropped my things.

"_Je suis trés, trés desolée_," Jane said in perfect French, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Bella, _oui_?"

"Yes…" I muttered through gritted teeth, falling down on my knees to collect my things.

"No need to bow down on your knees, _chérie_," Alec drawled condecendingly, and the twins both laughed shrilly, leaving me fuming on the floor, silently repeating to myself: "I will not cause a blood bath, I will not cause a blood bath…"

The more I repeated it, the more fucking appealing the thought got, but I managed to keep in control, but the frustration with being Jane and Alec Rushmore's personal punching bag did not blow over easily.

Almost two weeks after the Jasper-fail, on a Friday, I would begin ballroom dancing-classes with Aro Vincenza. It was my first encounter with him since my audition and the introduction-day, and I was excited. According to rumours, Mr. Vinceza was the most… well, likable of the three directors. Caius Giuliano was the ultimate bad guy, while mr. Santi was just… weird. Marcus Santi mostly taught the cons, and Alice always came back from his classes with the immediate need to take a shower "to get rid of all the weird shit he was pulling."

I was happy when I arrived, seeing as the hell twins weren't there already, they most likely wouldn't be in this class. On the other hand, Aro Vincenza was there, and he lit up when he saw me.

"Bella Swan, I presume," he greeted me, bowing for me, which sort of threw me.

"Sir," I replied, curtsying before him.

"I have been waiting to get you in one of my classes, your audition was… spectacular to say the least, a joy for old men who have seen both the good, the bad and the ugly."

"Thank you, sir, it…"

I didn't get to finish, since the door burst open, and fifteen-or-so students rushed in, all dressed for class and ready to begin. Mr. Vincenza introduced himself and his aide to the class, a pale and petite woman named Renata, then told us to pair up. I tried looking around to find someone to dance with, but there was such a commotion in the room, with people trying to find the partner they wanted or avoiding one they didn't want to end up spending class with, so when things calmed down, I was the only one to stand without a partner.

"This was rather unfortunate," Mr. Vincenza commented, when he saw me standing alone in the middle of the room.

Unfortunate? I was the only one without a fucking partner, and you think that's "unfortunate"?

"I'm certain I made sure that this class would have an equal number of boys and girls," Aro tutted, his brow furrowed, and turned to Renata. "Bring me the class attendance list, please."

Aro Vincenza began taking names, to see who the no-show was. He didn't get very far. After the fourth name, the door opened behind us, and everyone turned their heads. I was right at the front, so I couldn't see anything as people were blocking my view. Mr. Vincenza on the other hand, lit up again at the sight of the person who entered.

"There, our lost sheep. Welcome to class, Mr…?"

"Hale, sir."

I froze. That voice, with the hint of a Southern drawl. Jasper was here.

"Mr. Hale, I assume you have a reasong for arriving late?"

"Mr. Giuliano kept us a bit longer in technique-class," Jasper replied from behind the mass of people.

"I see. My dear friend Caius' strive for perfection can go to the extreme. Very well, Mr. Hale. As you arrived late, I'm afraid everyone except one is paired up. Come on over, and we'll get started with class."

The other students made way for Jasper, and I still couldn't move. He walked towards me, his eyes focused on he floor, and I just stared at him (and I really tried not to look at his tights-clad legs), almost afraid of what was going to happen in just a few seconds when he would lift his gaze from the floor.

When he finally did, he too froze. I can't imagine how it must've looked. Me, all stiff and probably looking scared senseless, and Jasper, shock evident in his beautiful features, stopping mid-stride when he saw me.

"Bella?"

"Oh, you two know each other?" Mr. Vincenza asked, curiosity in his voice as he looked from Jasper to me.

"We've met once," Jasper replied stiffly, looking blankly at me.

"Then this will not be at all strange for you."

Aro Vincenza clapped his hands, and everyone turned their attention to him.

"All right class, we will begin with the waltz, the easiest of the ballroom dances, with the basic one-two-three-rhythm. Renata and I will show you first, and then you follow."

Renata and Mr. Vincenza took their stances, and after a moments silence they began dancing through the room. I had danced waltz before, but it had mostly been one-two-three back and forth. I remember the one time I tried getting the dancing around-part into it. My partner that time, a boy named Mike, was a bit overzealous with trying to make us dance in circles, and I got all dizzy and fell over. I felt a bit nervous about that, seeing how the director and his aide floated around the room in wide cricles, moving effortlessly to some unheard, inner music.

After a twirl around the room, Director Vincenza ordered us to take stance and begin. The boys bowed and the girls curtseyed, and then came the awkward, uncomfortable moment when the boys hesitated before taking hold of the girls. Jasper seemed just as nervous as me, but didn't say anything. He simply stepped up to me, held out his arms for me. If he wasn't going to say anything, neither was I. We settled into stance, and Mr. Vincenza counted us all in.

Most of the other couples broke down in giggles and grunts just seconds after. They were embarrased, a couple of guys stepped on their partners' toes, and others just couldn't keep dancing and broke down in laughs. Everyone except Jasper and me. We kept dancing through the room, looking intently at each other, not saying a thing. Jasper was undeniably a good dancer, leading me steadily. He made a light turn when we approached the end of the long room. The director was suddenly at our side, observing us.

"Very good, Mr. Hale, try slowing down the tempo just a bit, keep your frame. Ms. Swan, relax your shoulders, just follow Mr. Hale," he corrected us, making the necessary adjustments before turning to the rest of the class. "Watch and learn, people."

Mr. Vincenza had us dance around the room for ten minutes before he let the others try again. By then he had also turned on some music for us to move to, and I was thankful for it. The cramped silence between me and Jasper was irritating, much in the same way the stern iron grip our eyes were caught in was. Saint Jasper was obivously not gonna save me from the silence this time, so I took a deep breath.

"You owe me a turnout," I said, my voice steady and neutral.

"Excuse me?"

"I never got to see your turnout. You said you'd show it to me if I showed you my pliés."

"Well, things got weird…"

"Shit, really? You ran off into your room."

It was apparant he wasn't happy discussing this, and I didn't particularly want to push it. Dancing with him after that incident was weird enough.

"Damn it, Bella…" he scoffed under his breath.

"What?"

Jasper squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The hard edge in his eyes was gone now, and he looked almost… remorseful.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly, making another light turn so we wouldn't collide with Bree and her partner.

"Can I get an explanation to go with the apology?" I asked bluntly, feeling relieved that the awkward situation seemed to be gone.

"It was Felix, he is such an…"

"Ass?" I suggested with a quirky grin. "Imbecile? Immature brat?"

"I was going for idiot," Jasper replied flashing me a smile. "Look, I shouldn't have run off, it just got a bit too much."

"You still owe me a turnout," I insisted, mock-serious. I was happy just with the fact that we were talking again.

"Soon, I promise."

And with that, the chilly air between us was gone, and we just danced. Personally, I think we kicked everyone else's ass, because they were a sad, sad lot when it came to ballroom dancing. It was either that, or I was tripping on a Jasper-induced high again. Never mind evil twins, nosy roomies, horrible French classes or the fact that my pointe shoes were so dead they practically deserved a burial. This was good.

At the end of class, Aro Vincenza gave us a few pointers to work on until next time before he dismissed us. As the students left class, I spotted Alice outside the studio. She was grinning, waving wildly at me. I took it she was happy about seeing my with Jasper again, because I had been real bitchy to her and Rose on occasions.

When she started to motion for someone to enter the room, I was expecting Rose, but the person that stepped into the room was not Rose. It wasn't even a girl. I felt like something exploded in me, and I shrieked loudly:

"Jake!"

Beside Alice, he looked unnaturally tall and almost wild with that cropped hair, and when I ran towards him I felt like I was in some sort of illusion, where proportions seemingly changed, though in reality they didn't. I threw myself at Jake, expecting him to fall over, but he had put on some serious muscle since last time, so it felt more like throwing myself at a brick wall. Jake spun me around several times, before putting me down on the floor again.

"What are you doing here, Jake?" I asked, happiness and enthusiasm radiating from me.

"I had the day off from school…" he began, cocking his eyebrow, a dead giveaway that he was lying. It made it easy beating him at poker.

"You are so full of shit Jake, you're playing hookey, aren't you?"

"Fine, I am, and so what? According to my calendar it's my turn to have the key chain. You've taken care of him, right?"

"She," I emphasized. "is fine, I promise you. Come, I want you to meet someone. Jasper…"

I spun around, expecting to see Jasper behind me. Instead, there was nothing. The studio was empty.

"Jasper?" I repeated, looking around the room.

"You mean the blonde guy? He left pretty much right after you attacked me. Seemed to be in a hurry, too," Jake commented, putting his arm around me.

Fucking great.

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**A/N**: Thanks for reading, leave some love if you like and I promise not to give any deadlines for next chapter (that way you can't be disappointed when I don't meet them...).


	6. Chapter 5: Small Lies and Big Problems

**A/N**: Well, I didn't give you a deadline, so I'm not really late. I wanted to put this up before Christmas Eve, because I will probably take a fanfic-holiday after that and just spend time with my friends and family. So from me to you, here's a Christmas treat for you all. Thank you all for favouriting, reviewing and putting me on alert.

A special thanks to Kassandra who gave te courage to put this one up in the first place, and has been a solid supporter through my time here at . You rock, girl!

Okay, that was that, moving on. Enjoy chapter 5!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the characters from Twilight, that honor belongs to Stephenie Meyer. You know what I did, and you know you (secretly, at least) like it.

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_5. Small Lies and Big Problems_

"So, who was the guy?" Jake asked me as we were walking back to my dorm. Alice had to leave for her last class, while I had the rest of the day off.

"What guy?" I asked, deciding to play dumb. Jake did not need to know about my Jasper-fail, our subsequent make-up moment and what now seemed to be another fail, because I was pretty fucking sure that it had all fallen apart the moment I threw myself at Jake. Sometimes I was so stupid I felt I deserved an award.

"The guy who left in a hurry, the one you looked all cozy with."

"Just... some guy I met today in class." I lied through my teeth and tried to look unfazed. "He was late for class and he got paired up with me. How are things on the rez?"

"Come on, Bells, don't even try that," Jake told me accusingly, elbowing me lightly. Of course, the one time he decides not to let things slide is when I really want him to.

"What?"

"Avoiding the question!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm busy trying to figure out how you pulled a freaking Rocky-training montage without me noticing," I joked back, nodding at his buff torso. "And you didn't answer my question either."

"Just don't even think your shitty attempt at avoiding the question went and will go by unnoticed. You will answer me. Me Jake. You tiny ballerina. I win," Jake laughed boisterously, and did a pretty impressive impersonation of Tarzan a'la Johnny Weissmüller. "As for the rez… It's still there and shit. Embry told me to tell you that he still thinks you're hot, and that he knows he's a pathetic sap for saying it. As a footnote: I agree. Quil asked me to scope the hunting grounds, meaning I should check out the female population. Photos were welcome, and should I capture anything wearing less than a… what do you call those bathing suits you're wearing?"

"Leotards, Jake, nice that you think my basic outfit of the last twelve years is a bathing suit."

"Bells. It's ballet. I should not even care. Anyway, anything wearing less than that leotard was a huge bonus and I would be a dead man if I deleted such a picture."

I laughed. Girl-crazy Quil and Embry-with-a-crush. Over the years I had gotten to know them, since them and Jake were sort of a package deal, a pretty good one at that. They were always up to something, usually something fun. Once they even put on a recital for me. I've never laughed so hard in my life, just imagine three bulky boys in tights and matching Metallica-t-shirts, pirouetting around to the music from "The Nutcracker". As for Embry liking me… Well, it was sort of cute, but he was Jake's friend, and by extension my friend, and it just didn't work out in my head.

"And Leah?" I asked, trying not to picture Jake running around the dorm trying to get photos of girls in their leotards.

Jake's face fell at the mentioning of his girlfriend, and the smile that had radiated from him now waned.

"What Leah doesn't know won't hurt her," he replied, still trying to sound chipper.

"You didn't tell her?" I asked, surprised at this. Jake and Leah were like two peas in a pod, they had been all lovey-dovey last time I saw them… "Fuck, Jake, you're gonna be in so much trouble when you get home!"

Nevermind that Jake and Leah could be very cutesy and gooey and looked like a couple taken out of some cheesy magazine most of the time, they both possessed one hell of a temper, Leah especially, and I could only imagine what she'd think of Jake ditching school and running off to see me. I was not her favourite person. She fucking despised me.

"Please," Jake huffed indignantly and shrugged his shoulders. "As if I'm not in enough fucking trouble with her as it is…"

"What did you do?"

"What did I do? I did nothing! Okay, so I may have gone to Sam, because he asked me over to his and Emily's place, you know. It was nothing, we got the guys together and hung out…"

Sam was Leah's ex-boyfriend, who broke up with her (Leah sees it as Sam dumping her) for her cousin Emily. Leah did not take it well, and could not stand Sam, and as I understood it, things were pretty tense now between Leah and Emily. I knew for sure that Sam had felt bad for breaking up with Leah, but I don't know… Between the two of them, I'd pick Emily over Leah just to get rid of the temper-issue, never mind the fact that Emily actually seemed to like me judging from the only time I met her.

"Oh, boy…" I sighed, shaking my head.

"No fucking shit! Leah's been giving me the cold shoulder and blue balls-treatment ever since!" Jake concurred fervently, illustrating his point by grabbing his crotch, something that made me want to look away in mild disgust. "Is it okay for a girlfriend to cockblock her boyfriend?"

"Okay, no more mentioning of your balls, please, I get enough of that already."

"My balls are getting to you over here?" he teased playfully, putting his arm around me, and my blushing-gene kicked in, full force.

"No, but other balls…" I muttered under my breath, trying to get the blushing under control.

We were at the dorm, and I unlocked the door, swinging it open. We were greeted by the sight of Rose and Emmett on the couch in a less than clothed state doing something that I'm pretty sure would have been rated M even with clothes on. The scene was mindblowing, no, worse, it was like a suckerpunch in the gut.

"Oh, fuck!" Emmett exclaimed when he noticed they weren't alone anymore. Seeing big bulky Emmett fly up from the couch and tiptoe into Rose's and Al's room was sort of amusing, but the fact that he didn't have pants on still made me heave internally.

"You see what I mean?" I told Jake, turning around so as to not get the image of Rose and Em even more seared onto my brain.

"Right…"

"Fuck, Bella, ever heard of knocking?" Rose yelled at me, sounding distressed, as she moved from the couch to the bedroom.

"Ever heard of a room?" I hollered back at her, but only got the slam of the door as answer.

This must have been the first time there had ever been an awkward silence between me and Jake. Hell, the dude just saw one of my roomies basically fucking her boyfriend on the couch, even I felt embarrassed, and I should at least be somewhat used to it. Emmett and Rose had a very… loud relationship to say the least.

"Right, so that was Rose, one of my roommates, and her boyfriend Emmett," I hurried to say before the silence got to the point where it would permanently stay between us. "They usually stay in the bedroom, so I'm sorry you had to see that."

"You sure about that? 'Cause I have an immediate need to save you from this place," Jake said, sounding pretty shell shocked.

"Rose and Emmett humping on the couch is the least of my problems here, trust me."

"Someone messing with you here?"

"God, what made you think that? Although, I'm pretty sure Lucifer enrolled his spawn in this school, and put a high level demon to teach classes."

"Sounds like a case for the Winchesters," Jake quipped quickly, nugding my shoulder.

"One, you need to stop watching Supernatural, or I swear there will come a time when you start salting doors and torching corpses. Second… Yeah, it's a case, you wouldn't happen to have their number, would you?" I retorted with a grin. "Oh, and you might not wanna sit down on the couch, I think we need to have it sterilized… My room's over there, so if you can stand the mess then go right ahead," I added when I noticed Jake heading for the couch. I pointed towards my room and motioned him away from the hazardous piece of furniture.

Jake only smirked, walking into my room with long strides. What the hell had he been up to putting on so much muscle? And what was the deal with Sam? Last time Jake and I spoke he thought Sam was bossy, and he only went over to Sam and Emily's for the food.

I followed Jake into my room, but wrote a quick note for Alice on a little whiteboard that we got last week, warning her about the contaminated couch. After this incident, I made a mental note to suggest moving the whiteboard to outside our door so we'd have some warning before opening the door and seeing stuff we didn't want to see.

"So this is your room?" Jake commented when I entered, and he cocked his eyebrow at the general disorder.

My room was still in a semi-state of chaos. I had not even unpacked all of my bags yet, and most of them were shoved under my bed, but a few of them had sought refuge in a corner. I had books and papers everywhere, and my laundry basket was overflowing. Talking about catching me on a bad day. I had meant to do laundry this weekend, and had made a vague promise to myself to get this pig sty of a room in order.

"Laundry day…" I tried to explain myself, but Jake only smirked and sat down on my bed. He knew me too well to know that this mess was more than laundry day.

"So to sum it up: hellspawn has invaded the school, there is a demon teaching classes, and you're awfully fucking quiet about a guy you claim to have met only this morning. Do I need to go find him and punch the truth out of him, or do you wanna play nice?"

"Can't we just drop the guy already, I told you, I met him in class, we had to dance. You try waltzing with a guy in tights and see how well you'd do!"

I wouldn't exactly call Jake homophobic, but he had trouble understanding guys dancing ballet. Unless it was for purely for mocking the professionals, like the time him, Embry and Quil put on that recital for me. I could see Jake scrunch up his face, he'd rather chew off his arm than waltz, whether it was with a guy or a girl. I wonder how he'd snake his way out of that one if he ever marries…

"You know I don't believe you for a second, right?"

"Well, that's your problem, I know I'm telling the truth," I lied, and hoped that I was at least a little convincing.

Jake grunted something about "stubborn", but thankfully dropped the subject of Jasper. Instead he interrogated me thoroughly about eveything else. I told him about my audition (again), my first day, my second day, and third; after that, I segued into other things.

I told him about Rose and Alice (skillfully avoiding to involve Jasper); how Alice had basically dissed my entire wardrobe, and about Rosalie and Emmett's Romeo and Juliet-relationship. I still didn't know why Rose and Jasper's parents disliked Emmett so strongly, and Jake and I spent a good deal of time discussing that one (I suggested class difference, Jake suggested that Em farted infront of Mr. and Mrs. Hale).

I might have exaggerated about the helltwins, but on the other hand, they could be worse, so I was probably just telling the truth. I described the directors, Aro Vincenza, Caius Giuliano and Marcus Santi (not overly affectionately called Creepo, Monster and Weirdo among older students).

I touched on the subject of the dance mat challenge, leaving out anything Jasper-related and focused on the stupid animosity between Alice and Felix.

"Alice, she was the one..?"

"Yeah, the short girl that showed you the way."

"She is fucking hot!"

"Jake!" I exclaimed, throwing my pillow at him. "You make it so hard for me not to call Leah on you. Seriously, you need to work that shit out with her."

"Why?" Jake asked grumpily. "She just keeps giving me shit."

"Yeah, exactly. She's the only girl brave enough to give you shit, and take whatever you throw back at her."

"You give me shit frequently."

"Yeah, and we also married when we were kids, I so don't count. Jake, I've known you longer than any other friend I have or might have, so allow me to verbally kick your butt here. You love Leah, God knows what you see in her, but you love her, and you keep fucking that up as if there was no tomorrow. Come on, Sam? You went over to Sam and expected her not to say shit about it? I would've cockblocked you, too! Then you go on skipping school to drive all the way here under the pretense of getting the key chain back…"

"Pretense?" Jake interrupted me, upset. "It's my fucking turn to have it!"

"Zip it, Fabio, I'm not done! It might be your turn to have the key chain, but it's not the only fucking reason you came. You could've called, and I could've mailed it to you, it would've saved you a lot of money, 'cause that car of yours sure don't have a gas mileage that trumps the price of a stamp. You wanted to get away to, I don't know, punish Leah for being a witch with a capital B. You know, Jacob, I've never considered you stupid or anything, but now you just make me want to dropkick the stupid out of you."

I've never lashed out at Jake before, at least not that I can remember, and it showed. We were both equally shocked by my outburst, me for doing it and Jake for getting his ass handed to him. I meant what I said to him, every word, but I could've phrased myself better.

I couldn't even begin to apologize when there was a knock on my door. Glad to take a break from the cramped silence, I headed out of my room and opened the door. Well fuck me, if it wasn't "Mess with Bella"-day. Jasper stood outside, looking all serious and determined and… oh, so fuckhot.

"Jasper?" I said, surprised, trying to mentally assess myself and how I looked.

"I owe you a turnout," he blurted, glancing over my shoulder. I instictively turned around to see if there was something or someone behind me. Nothing. The door to my room was open, but he couldn't have spotted Jake.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I owe you a turnout. You showed me your plié, now I need to show you my turnout."

Great, another guy that "needs" to come to me and… do stuff. As if Jake wasn't enough. I had hoped I could postpone the Jasper-problem until Monday at least, but apparantly that was too much to ask for.

"Jasper, could this wait until later, it's kind of a bad time now…" I told him, squirming under the piercing look of his eyes.

"Oh, I see. You an' your boyfriend are busy." His face fell, and his gaze turned harsh and cold.

"My boyfriend? Jake is not…"

"Oh, please Bella!" Jazz then suddenly exploded. "The entire school knows!"

"The entire school knows what?"

"That guy is your boyfriend!"

"He is not, and who told you?" Now I was screaming too.

"Come on, people saw you, bein' all sweet and cuddly. Don' deny it, it just makes you look like a fool," Jasper spat venomously at me, his eyes now glowing with anger.

"What the hell is there to deny? Jake is my friend, I can have those, right, or is there some fucked-up rule at this school that prohibits freshmen from having friends outside of school?" I spat back, stepping out into the corridor with him, closing the door behind me.

"Of course not…"

He looked down at his feet and then something dawned on me.

"You're not here for that turnout, you're here to check up on me!"

This took him by surprise, and I could tell I had been right. But Jasper quickly pulled together, putting on a calm face and looked at me with smoldering eyes.

"I'm not," he said softly, stepping closer to me. "Please… I owe you that turnout." He added a smile to the plea, something that any other day would have made me relent, but I was too upset and outraged with him for acting so juvenile that it had no effect on me. Or well, it had an effect on me, just not the one Jasper expected.

"You don't owe me anything," I said harshly, stepping back to show him that he had nothing to gain here.

Jasper tensed up, and lost the soft expression in his face. Instead his eyes first turned dead, then they swelled up with anger, I could almost feel it boil underneath them.

"Fine!" he yelled at me, then rushed off.

"Fuck…" I sighed, watching Jasper turn a corner and disappear. This was not how I meant for this day to go over. I was gonna have a nice talk with Jake, catch up, give him the key chain, show him the school, then send him home to Leah, and then enjoy the weekend so I was rested and ready for dealing with Jasper on Monday.

I snuck into the dorm again, and spotted Jake by my bedroom door.

"Just some guy, huh?" Jake smirked at me.

"You eavesdropped?" I countered, mock hurt. I'm pretty sure even Rose and Em had heard it through whatever noise they themselves were making.

"Myabe we were wrong to divorce. I mean, I only need to be here, what, half an hour and people already think we're together."

"Sure, and I'm gonna hunt down the poor sucker who started that rumour and tan their ass. Like, really fucking tan it."

"So I take it you won't tell me who he is?"

"Gee, you think?" I retorted sarcastically. "Why should I tell you about a guy who obviously hates me? I should tan his ass aswell!"

Jake laughed, saying something about me not being very ballerina-like.

"I should go…" he then said, and began heading for the door.

"Jake, no, don't leave. It's just a stupid rumour, and I promise to punish the person responsible!"

"I doubt Leah will buy that one. You're right, I need to put an end to the cockblocking and apologize, before my balls suffer a complete breakdown and you start getting violent on my ass," Jake explained.

"Okay," I smiled. "Let me get you the key chain."

"Already got it." Jake pulled it out of one of his jeans pockets.

"You went through my stuff?" I asked incredulously, watching the key chain in his hands.

"I know you, remember. You always keep it on or in your bedside table. Bed… Bedside table… Not a hard one to crack."

"Get lost, Mr. Muscles," I told him, pushing him towards the door, which was a challenge in itself.

"I'm leaving!" Jake protested, and began walking. "Thanks for the verbal knock out, Bells."

"Thank you for not reducing me to a pile of goo for it," I replied with a smile.

Jake pulled me into a bear hug, and for a second it felt as if nothing was wrong in the world. Unfortunately, that moment was lost the instant the door openend, and Alice stepped in.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm leaving…" she giggled at us.

"No, no, it's cool. Jake was just leaving to handle a cockblocking situation at home," I replied, and stuck out my tongue at Jake, who rolled his eyes.

"See you, Bells…" He waved before he walked out and closed the door.

"You two looked cozy…" Alice began with a smile.

"Not you, too!" I huffed, shaking my head.

"What? I just think you must've made a cute married couple."

"Whatever…"

I turned to walk back into my room to sulk the weekend away, when Alice's voice trilled through the room.

"One more thing, Bella… Why does Jasper think you're a bitch?"

* * *

**A/N**: Of all the "dirty" words out there, cockblocking and anything you can derive from that has to be my favourite (but I only managed to use it four times…). I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Mr. Muscles sounds an awful lot like Mr. Muggles (the dog from Heroes). Jake as a Pomeranian, now there's a winning picture…

Right, so I gave you a Christmas treat, maybe you'd be sweethearts of the day and leave me a Christmas present too? *looks at reader with puppy dog eyes*

Okay, scratch that, no begging. Just Happy Holidays to everyone, and if you're in a giving mood, I can't stop you. ;)


	7. Chapter 6: The Hunt Is On

**A/N**: Sorry for my blatant tardiness, this is the downside of trying to juggle three stories at a time. Everyone's screaming for updates, and I'm trying my best. Main thing is, I'm back, which is good, and I've really missed this fic. Anyhoo, we left on a pretty dramatic note last chapter, so ya'll can skip the disclaimer if you want and jump right into the story. It's probably a bit shorter than previous chapters, but I couldn't take the story any further than this at this point. Enjoy folks!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. In my mind they prance around in tutus. Yes, even Emmett. Which is quite the sight. *giggles*

* * *

_6. The Hunt Is On_

_Previously on Prima Bellarina:_

"_One more thing, Bella… Why does Jasper think you're a bitch?"_

"He thinks I'm a what?" I all but spluttered. A bitch? Me? Never!

"Yeah, he basically came running down the hall like a fucking express train on acid, cursing like a sailor, and when he saw me, he leered something along the lines of 'that fucking bitch you live with is driving me insane'. Now, I know Jazz and Rose can battle it out pretty well, but judging from your reaction, I'm guessing he meant you," Alice explained, looking challengingly at me. She clearly wanted me to spill my guts.

"He called me a bitch…" I repeated quietly, ignoring Alice's mental drooling over this turn of events.

"Yeah, move on to the part where I get to know why my otherwise calm and sensible cousin began using offensive expletives."

"Offensive expletives? Really, Alice, even you call yourself a bitch."

"Duh, Jasper's words, obviously before today."

"He really called me a bitch."

"Ugh! Bells, you're so repetitive!" Al exclaimed, and now seemed just about ready to strangle the truth out of me. "Move on, get over it, and tell my why…"

"I hate him!" I then suddenly exploded. I was not a bitch! It's not like he had been all gentlemanly and poised and shit, he had lashed out at me about lying and being a fool.

"You hate him, so he called you a bitch?"

"Who called Bella a bitch?"

Great, Rose and Emmett had chosen this opportune moment to emerge from the bedroom. With a little luck they had been too busy getting down and dirty that the incident with Jake and Jasper hadn't reached their ears.

"It's nothing…" I began, but was abruptly and rudely interrupted by Alice.

"Jasper called Bella a bitch, and Bella hates him now, for some reason."

Silly me. As if this could ever be kept a secret with Alice in the room. Fucking glorious beginning of the weekend, what's next?

"Jasper? You mean my precious brother actually used such a volatile and offensive word?" Rose asked, sounding doubtful as hell, with expression to match.

"I know, right? He needs to learns from you, both of you," Alice quipped, and sauntered over to the couch.

I was in no mood to inform her that the couch was infested with Emmett's and Rose's hump-residue. At least not yet...

"Right about fucking time he got over his sanctimonious self. To what do we owe this sudden outburst, Bella?"

"He's a stupid ass who listened to some insipid rumour, which reminds me, there's someone in this school who will get fucking hamstringed when I find them," I growled surlily, crossing my arms.

"Okay, does she not know what happened on that couch?" Emmett then wondered and looked over at Alice, who was comfortably sprawled out on the couch.

"What?"

Alice sprang up immediately, eyeing us all suspiciously. She quickly took in Emmett's huge post-coital grin and Rose's bedroom-hair, and looked from them to the couch to the bedroom and back to us.

"Oh, God, I feel so… filthy, ugh! Thanks a fucking lot, Bella!"

"Yeah, well, I've been busy! Someone started a rumour about me dating Jake, and it's been circulating school, which lead to Jasper showing up outside my door, being five kinds of rude. No, actually ten kinds of rude, him calling me a bitch defintiely didn't work in his favor."

"You know, this sort of makes you bitchy," Alice told me, and stuck out her tongue. "If you excuse me, I need to go boil myself, and then sanitize the couch."

I rolled my eyes, while Emmett tried his hardest not to laugh, but his quivering shoulders gave him away. Rose looked pretty damn satsified with herself, and I don't know if it was because Jasper had called me a bitch or because Alice had sat down in the hump couch. Alice stuck out her tongue one last time before she marched off to the bathroom, and we soon heard the shower getting turned on.

"Okay, awkward moment, so I might as well go hunt down whatever moron started the rumour," I hastily said, and turned to walk out.

"Bella, you should really talk to Jasper," Rose told me sincerly, and I was surprised that she, despite her positive reaction to her brother's new side, using an offensive word and all, still wanted the old Jazz back.

"Really, about what?" I replied, and turned on my heel to face her. "About how incredibly asinine and ultimately idiotic he was for listening to a rumour?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly use those words, but pretty much, yeah. I know my brother, and the best way is to just get it over with. I can tell you right now that it will probably be ugly, take it from someone who's had more battles with Jazz than anyone else, but once he's got it out of his system, he drops the subject and moves on."

"So you're saying I should go and ask for his forgiveness?" I asked her venomously. I could not believe it. I was not the one who should apologize here!

"Okay, if I stay here any longer, my dick will curl over, revert and I'll be left with a vagina," Emmett cut in. "You girls bitch it out, and I'll go do something… manly or something…"

Emmett walked back into Rose's and Al's room, and closed the door, while Rose and I stood looking at each other, my question still hanging in the air like a fucking pink elephant with warts and a funky body odor. I tried to ignore the fact that Emmett had said that we should 'bitch it out', somehow implying that both me and Rose were bitches. What was it with people finding me bitchy today? I was not, I repeat: not a bitch!

"Well…" Rose began answering my question, but I cut her off.

"He can sulk all he want and act like a four-year-old, but I will not apologize for something that I had no part in!"

With that, I turned again, and rushed out of the room before Rose could object. I was fuming, and I wanted to kick someone's ass royally. I was out for blood, and right now I didn't care much for whose. I would comb through the entire dormatory until I found the unfortunate bastard who opened his or her mouth and essentially signed their death warrant.

Unfortunately, it was a Friday, and though I saw a fair few students (who each got a 'if looks could kill'-glare), there were many who'd gone home over the weekend or simply gone out on town. Nevertheless, I tried to assess the situation, and made a list of suspects in my head, adding and removing as I went. I could count out the seniors, they had more important things to think about than whether Jake was my boyfriend. The same went for the juniors, neither me, nor Rose or Alice knew enough of them for me to have any suspicions. That left me with freshmen and sophomores. I could strike Rose and Emmett from my list, since they had probably been humping their brains out when the rumour started. As much as Alice loved gossip, she knew the deal with me and Jake, and wouldn't start a rumour about us. At least… not intentionally.

I briefly considered the possibility of Jasper fabricating the rumour-story just to have a reason to come see me, but something told me that it wasn't like him to just come up with a thing like that and then fake a fit of anger. That anger had seemed pretty genuine to me. Then there was whoever in my class who may have seen the Hug between me and Jake. I estimated that a maximum of five people may have been tardy enough to see it. Finally, there were all the students that may have passed by the studio and seen us through the screens and the door. Great, whoever had made my day a living hell was a fucking needle in a haystack, and for that I wanted to kick their ass thorougly, and then kick it some more just because I wanted to. I even surprised myself. I had never really been a vindictive or even violent person, but they messed with me at the pissiest time possible.

"Well, well, if it isn't the wannabe-ballerina…" someone then leered behind me.

Fuming, I turned around. Just what I needed now, a visit from the fiends in leotards. Was there some law that prohibited them from at least taking the weekend of from hellspawn-duty? I could a) turn and try to avoid them, and thus look like a complete wuss in their eyes, which I was not, or b) stay and make a half-hearted try not to kill them. Wait, why shouldn't I kill them? That thought sounded unhealthily appealing to me.

"Alec, Jane," I greeted through gritted teeth, trying to get them to spontaneously combust with my eyes and willpower alone, since that would've been a pretty stealthy way to kill them and not leave any physical evidence.

"Where's your charity case?" Jane asked me sweetly, flashing a pearly white smile that I wanted to suckerpunch to kingdome come.

"My what?"

"Oh, don't play stupid, Isabella," Alec said, and the way he said my full name made me recoil internally. How could a person be so puke-inducing? "That… person, if you want to call it that, that you apparantly seemed rather acquainted with. Seriously, does it have a disorder or something?"

"He," I replied, stressing the word, "does not have a disorder."

"Is your sight impaired, or what? It was huge, where did you find that thing? At a freakshow?"

I suspected they kept on calling Jake 'it' just to piss me off further. Job well done.

"Well, they do say love is blind…" Jane added contemplatively, an evil smile playing on her lips.

"Where did you hear that?" I hissed, taking a step toward this obvious human manifestation of evil.

"Oh, we would never betray our sources," Alec replied with a smug smirk.

In that moment, I realized that even I had a limit. These two evil motherfuckers had been pushing my buttons from day one, and there was only so much prodding I could take before I changed from Sweet Ballerina to Insidious Monster.

"Okay, that's it!" I yelled, and I could feel the blood boiling in me. "If anyone has a disorder it's the two of you, you are absolutely and intentionally evil. You're sociopaths with absolutely no regards for other people, and I don't care if you take this literally, but you fucking bitches can bite me. I could care less about your reign over this school, you stupid, heinous robots! Fuck, someone should dropkick the shit out of the pair of you!"

Alec and Jane merely smirked at me, which made me even more angry. Could nothing faze them? Were hellspawn immune to human fits of anger? For my own, and ultimately everyone elses safety, I pushed past them, and stomped off, thinking it was best to get out of anyones' way, lest they want to be part of a bloodbath. I could hear them laughing shrilly behind me, and I clenched my fists. Oh, to be able to turn around, beat them to pulp and get away with it…

On that note, it was probably best to get away from school altogether. I would have been more than happy to leave immediately, but I was still dressed in the same clothes I had had on in class, and there was no way in hell I'd walk around town in that. I doubled back, stealthily avoiding any form of contact with anyone, and ten minutes later I was back at the dorm.

I snuck in, and thankfully, no one was in the livingroom, the shower was still on, so Alice was probably there. Emmett and Rose where probably in the bedroom. I could quietly tiptoe into my room undetected and change clothes. I really had no plan, and just put on a couple of jeans and a simple blue t-shirt before I pulled on my jacket. I tossed my wallet and my phone in to a ratty old purse and wooshed out before anyone could take notice. I really couldn't deal with neither Alice nor Rose, nor anyone else connected to this straight-out fiasco.

I could care less about people who passed me by on my way out of the building. I might have heard someone saying a "Hi, Bella", but I shut everything out. It wasn't until I was outside of the dorm and about to step out on the sidewalk and almost knocked someone over that I snapped out of my stupor.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath, shaking my head. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"You alright there?"

I looked up, and was met by a pair of emerald green eyes. Shit, of course it had to be a guy, like I hadn't had my share of guys today. I had to lecture one, shout at another, try ignore the obvious sex-ooze from a third and plainly hate a fourth. This guy'd better not fuck with me, or I would make things extremly unpleasant for him.

"Are you?" I countered, perhaps a tad bit harsher than absolutely necessary.

"No, I'm fine, you know, I can take almost getting knocked over by a beautiful girl," the guy replied, with a sly smile, and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Trust me, flattery will not work on me today, but nice try."

"Bad day?"

"The worst. Really, I'm serious, this is even worse than when I made an ass out of myself on a ballet recital when I was seven."

"You're a ballerina?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow, then nodded towards the Volturi Academy's dormatories, and behind that, the large, white, marblelike main building. "You study there?"

I nodded in answer.

"That's funny, I… my… friend studies here too."

"Yeah? What year?"

"She's a senior, pretty happy about it too. I'm actually waiting for her now."

"Oh, okay… Well, if she's a senior I doubt I know who she is, I'm only a freshman," I said, and felt how my immediate anger dissapated from my inner.

"She's hard to miss, I'm sure you've seen her at some point," the guy said with a reassuring smile.

"If you say so…"

I took this opportunity to study him. He definitely didn't dance ballet. Though he was obivously muscular, there was something off about the way he presented himself. He was far too hunched… no, not hunched, almost crouched, to be a ballet dancer at least. The face was pale, the emerald eyes set deeply, making them darker and more mysterious, and his hair was dirty blonde and long, pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. His mouth was neither thin nor full, the sly smile still played on them, and his voice was melodic, yet masculinly deep. There was something else about him, too, a feeling, enigmatic and inviting, yet strangely dangerous. Probably the kind of guy mothers warned their daughters about when they saw them in the streets. Bad boys. Trouble.

_Perfect._

"So, you heading somewhere? You seemed to be in an awful hurry when you almost ran me over," he asked me, straightening up from his semi-hunched, semi-crouched position.

"Not really, I just needed to get out. Bad day. Really, really, really bad day."

He observed me for a couple of seconds, before he took a step towards me, and I could almost feel the charism he exuded. It was… intriguing.

"Listen, I've been standing here waiting for my friend for almost half an hour. She's obviously not showing, not that it surprises me. She's pretty good at hiding and staying away when she wants to…"

"Yes?"

"What I mean to say is… Do you want to, I don't know, go somewhere? Maybe get a drink."

"I'm 19," I said bluntly, but I didn't really care. I had been drunk before, and I found the law about underage drinking completely absurd. I was allowed to watch porn (which I didn't, but still), but I was not allowed to drink beer.

"Oh, right, I'm sorry, my bad… I didn't mean to…" he apologized, taking a small step back.

"Calm down, I've been drunk before, and right now, anything with alcohol in it sounds pretty damn good."

The smile on his face grew wider, and again, his eyes sparkled, and it really made him look like fucking trouble in human form, and I didn't care the least about it.

"Okay. Let's see what we can do about that, then," he smiled, and put his arm around my shoulders.

"I'm Bella by the way," I introduced myself, feeling a thrill of excitement run through me when his hand curled around my shoulder.

"I'm James," the guy said, and we set off down the street. "So tell me, Bella, why has this day been so really, really, really bad..?"

* * *

**A/N**: Oh, yes, James has entered the building, and he wants reviews. He may have made me a vague promise of not having a shirt on in the next chapter. He may not be a ballet dancer, but boy, is he fit…


	8. Chapter 7: I Am Not a Bitch Right?

**A/N**: And she's back! Not even I know what I've really been up to, but school's definitely been part of it. Plus, last week my body decided to just randomly kick my ass, and it pulled a muscle in my ribcage, which made it very painful for me to breathe, which made me slightly panicked because I have asthma. I had to go to the hospital, and I absolutely hate hospitals with a passion, but at least I learned that a certain substance used in some painkillers is bad for asthmatics. I'm happy to learn medical stuff, but I'd rather do it without having to be in a hospital. Yeah. They're evil. And I'm rambling.

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer own Twilight. I'm just imagining them in tutus.

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_7: I Am Not a Bitch... Right?_

I was so wrong, about James, about myself, about everything.

James bought us a sixpack at a convenience store while I waited almost a block away ('cause really, store clerks can put one and one together). Since drinking in public would have been like asking for a night in jail, I suggested (feeling a huge jolt of fear and excitement) that we go to his place. I mean, how bad could it be? This day seemed just about as fucked up as it was.

And fucked up it was, but not in the way I had imagined it. All the way from the Volturi Academy, James had asked me to tell him about my "really, really, really bad day". I was evasive, not keen on telling him all about the Jake/Jasper über-fail, followed by my freakishly terrifying outburst at the fiends and my subsequent exit from school grounds. I joked about needing a couple of beers in me before I could divulge any information, which he accepted, and for a brief moment, I thought for sure I was fraternizing with a rapist. During the walk to James's apartment, I tried to figure out a good way of ditching him, or at the very least immobilizing him if it came to that. Needless to say, I was not overly creative. Most of the schemes revolved around me going all nutcracker on his family jewels.

James's apartment surprised me, though. He lived in a nice neighborhood, I estimated it was about thirty minutes walkway from school (minor traffic, lights on your side), and the apartment was light and open, the interior a tasteful mix of exotic and classy.

"Okay, how old are you?" I asked him, sounding so ridiculously incredulous.

"Twenty-four," he offered, pulling off his jacket and hanging it on a coat rack.

"And you live here?"

"No, Bella. I lured you here, a luxiouriously furbished apartment in a neighborhood that basically has neighborhoodwatch, to indulge in dark deeds, which all revolve around obliterating your innocence."

Again, those dark green eyes glimmered, and my stomach did a couple of violent backflips. The word 'dangerous' rang in my head like a freaking siren, and when a sinister smile grew on James's lips I was sure I wouldn't leave this apartment, at least not alive. I envisioned James as a sort of dressed down version of Patrick Bateman, and while part of that image was fucking hot as hell, it also scared the living shit out of me.

As quickly as the smile had appeared, it also vanished, softening his features, and minutely easing my fear.

"I do live here," he smiled. "You can call my landlord and ask, if you'd like."

"How long..?"

"Five years. I rented it for two years, and then bought it."

"You own this place?" I gushed, looking around in awe, beyond the classy (and by definition expensive) furniture, and took in the apartment. The location was great, the neighboorhood was nice, the apartment itself had, though cluttered with furniture, retained an air of space, with high ceiling and clever use of light.

"My parents are… well… old money. They found it ridiculous that I wanted to hold on to the stupid notion of roughing it like all the other students who missed out on student housing did, so they somehow convinced me to buy this place."

"You're… rich?"

Patrick Bateman was rich too. Holy hell, I'm going to die, and it's not gonna be pretty…

"Don't look so surprised, it makes me feel self-conscious."

Self-conscious, really? Fuck that, this guy was rich, owned his own place, looked deadly, sexy and extremely fit.

James, who thankfully couldn't read my mind, shrugged and put down the sixpack on a coffee table beside a leather couch.

"Which reminds me," he continued, smiling at me as I tried to wipe away the dazed expression on my face. "I need to take a shower. Make yourself at home, have a beer. Just… don't get all pissdrunk on me."

The problem was, I wanted to get wasted. On top of my shitty day, I was in Patrick Bateman's boho-chic brother's apartment, battling the oddses about whether or not the boho-chic brother had inherited Patrick's disturbing hobby. Before I knew it, I was downing beer like there was no tomorrow. The room started to sway and turn, and no matter how hard I tried to drown today's event in beer, it was still there, nagging in a corner of my mind. I lay down on the couch, watching the ceiling spin above me, reliving every horrific moment of today. Jasper storming out. Jake being a right ass. Jasper shouting at me, calling me a fool to my face and bitch behind my back. Rose begging me to forgive him. Me lashing out at Jane and Alec. It was so bad. I was such…

"No, I'm not a bitch," I slurred as determinedly as I could, but it just sounded drunk and pathetic.

I could only imagine what Jasper would have looked and sounded like when he called me a bitch, and I tortured myself over and over again by conjuring up images of his beautiful face, all contorted in anger, his voice spitting out the word bitch.

When James finally emerged from the bathroom, I had downed three beers, and they had really kicked my brain into overdrive. He found me curled up on the couch, mumbling "I'm not a bitch" through strained sobs, tears running freely down my cheeks.

"Bella, are you okay?" James asked, and I heard him walk over to me.

The sight of him, wearing nothing but a deep brown towel draped tightly around his hips astounded me, more than it should have. He was spectacular, glorious, a sinewy sort of muscular. He looked like a walking marble statue; beautiful to look at, but cold and hard to touch. Not at all soft and subtle like… like…

_Like Jasper._

The images came back and replayed that one vile word, combining sound, image and movement in my head, and I quickly returned from being ridiculously smitten with James's abs to sobbing, chanting "I'm not a bitch" to no one in particular.

"Why would you be a bitch, and how in God's name did you get so drunk so fast?" James asked me, taking in my sobbing figure.

"I'm not a bitch, I'm not a bitch…"

"Bella? Come on, work with me here…"

James sat down next to me, shaking my shoulders, but I was stuck in Bella-is-a-bitch-land.

"Bella!" he then yelled at me, shocking me out of my stupor.

I temporarily stopped chanting, and looked at his distorted features through teary eyes.

"I…" I began, and I couldn't find it in me to hold back. "We hugged, and-and he thought… and then someone said, you know, and I gave him shit for being a complete dipshit… He came knocking on the door, being all high and punkass mighty, and called a fool and a bitch and… I mean, I'm a fucking ballerina, I'm not a bitch, in my book those are pretty much mutually exclusive unless you're a hell fiend disguised as a ballerina, and I've seen that too, you know, but that's so not the point, the point is I'm not a fucking bitch…"

I was rambling incoherently, trying to stifle my sobs. Breathing deeply, I steadied myself, or at least tried to.

"I just had a really, really, really bad day…" I told James shakily.

"I can see that…" he replied quietly, not moving an inch from where he sat.

"Please, just… I'm not a bitch!"

"Bella, why on earth would I think you're a bitch? You're drunk and emotional, and it's a bad combination, but it hardly qualifies you for the bitch award."

It sounded so good coming from him, even better when you factored in that he was only wearing a towel, but nevertheless, I couldn't bypass the feelings. The words were right, but they were coming from the wrong person.

"Bella, I'm not gonna ask you to talk about this… stuff you've gone through today, 'cause I've got a feeling you've had one beer to many to have that conversation right now. But, at some point, you need to talk, and I don't think my couch and I will do for that," James explained, wiping away a tear from my cheek.

It was a sweet gesture, but again, from the wrong person.

"Come on, I'll follow you back to school."

"In your towel?" I asked, and shamelessly eyed James's abs some more. Could anyone blame me? Hell no.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," James smirked, as he got up from the couch and disappeared into a room adjacent to the combined livingroom/kitchen.

I could feel the alcohol wearing off slowly, and I didn't bother moving. I lay sprawled out on the couch, trying to collect myself. Let's review, Bella: You met a stranger, followed him home, got drunk off of three beers just in time to witness said stranger in nothing more than a scrap of fabric.

"How the hell am I still alive?" I scolded myself quietly.

Fucked up days apparantly made me suicidal, and I would never get this lucky ever again. Days like these I should just be put on idiot-watch and only get to play with play-doh or something.

"God, Alice is going to kill me…" I muttered bitterly.

"Who's Alice?"

I almost jumped out of the couch at the sound of James's voice. He was standing behind me, looking deliciously casual in worn jeans, green t-shirt and a leather jacket I could give my right arm for.

"Alice is my dorm mate. She's 5'1", and the stubbornest and most opinionated pixie-ish ballerina you'll ever meet. You whoop her ass att DDR and she's gonna keep you playing until you fucking pass out and she wins," I replied, smirking at my description of Alice.

"Sounds delightful. You okay to walk?"

"Hey, I had three beers, of course I'm okay to walk."

I rose from the couch, a bit too fast, since I tripped over my own feet and almost fell flat on my ass. I could hear James trying to stifle his laughs, and I was embarrassed as fuck.

"You were saying..?" James asked me as he straightened me up, pulling my left arm around his neck and putting his right arm around my waist.

"Shut the fuck up…" I growled between clenched teeth.

"A ballerina with sass, I like it."

"If you notice any sign of me wanting to talk to strangers, you should immediately steer me in another direction," I warned James, as I stepped into my shoes.

"You too get friendly when you're drunk?"

"I get… talkative. I ramble. A lot. And it often ends with me throwing an insult at whoever I'm talking to, because for understandable reasons, they don't want to talk to Drunk Bella."

James laughed, and opened the door for me. In a blink he went from Patrick Bateman's boho-chic brother to being overly sweet and protective, holding my hand when we walked down the stairs, and he kept holding it all through our walk back to campus. He kept me from approaching strangers and spill my guts about just about anything to them, and actually made me fall for the "Look at that!"-manouver, which was an accomplishment. He didn't touch on the subject of my rambling breakdown, for which I was extremely grateful, nor did he inquire any further about my day, other than what plans I had for later this evening.

"Are you hitting on me?" I asked bluntly, still feeling tipsy despite the fresh air that had whisked away most of my drunkeness.

"Just trying to be friendly, Bella," James replied, loosened his grip of my hand.

"James… Honesty moment, here. You said you had a friend at Volturi, and my female intuition, albeit slightly impaired by means of beer, tells me she is your girlfriend. Or maybe not girlfriend, I don't know, but she's something to you…" I began, and saw how James made an attempt to interrupt me. "See, that reaction, that can mean two things. Either this friend is real, and you really shouldn't have picked me up and gotten me drunk, 'cause really, dude, that does so not look good on your part. Or, and this is the alternative I really hope you'll tell me is ridiculous… Or… there is no friend, and you just made that up to hook up with me, get me drunk, get me to your apartment and perform those dark deed that were supposed to obliterate my innocence."

James stopped, and just looked at me. This didn't say much to me either, it could still mean both things. If it was the first, then he was considering whether he should drop me off outside school or a block from, in case his "friend" could see him. If it was the other option, and I hoped like hell it wasn't, he realized he had been made, and was pondering his options.

"There is a friend," James finally said, and sighed. "Her name is Victoria, she's got red hair with temperament to match."

"And she's hiding from you because..?"

"I missed our four-month anniversary…"

"I don't understand…"

"What? It's not rocket science."

"No, I get the situation, I just don't understand how you could be so incredibly stupid that you got yourself in it! You own an apartment, so I take it you have enough money to invest in a calendar, in which you make important notes, like for example, anniversaries."

"I'm bad with dates, I don't even remember my father's birthday, and she knows this!"

"What happened?" I asked, looking ahead. I could spot the towering buildings of the Volturi Academy's campus.

"Well, I forgot about the anniversary, 'cause I was busy with… you know, other stuff…"

"'Other stuff'? What, is that code for 'fucking someone else's brains out'?"

Okay, obvious sign that I was drunk, I said anything and everything without censoring first.

"School, but nice to see you have such high thoughts of me," James leered playfully.

"You bought me beer," I simply replied.

"So Victoria threw a fit, which made me fear for my gonads' safety, and she's been dodging me ever since. It's getting tiresome, I mean, it was four months. Four months! I'll admit, I could have understood if it had been, you know, our first year anniversary, but four lousy months?"

We were now outside the gates to campus, and I stopped there.

"Tell me, how long was your longest relationhip before Victoria?"

James squirmed uncomfortably in front of me. Gotcha.

"Two months…" he muttered, embarrassed.

"And does Victoria know this?"

More squirming. Why did I even have to ask?"

"Yes…"

"And you still think it's surprising she busted you for your lousy memory?"

"You know, you should really follow your own advice, ballerina," James retorted testily, which I took as a sign that he knew I was right. On the other hand, I tried to ignore his remark, because I knew he was right.

"Look at this, King of the land of Passive Aggressivia."

"So what should I do?"

I gave him a impish smile, and walked through the gates, entering campus. I was feeling oddly confident. Knowing that this guy was just as screwed up as any of the other guys I'd handled today sort of made me feel empowered, and I knew James could do nothing to me. He was just a guy, and I was Bella, super-ballerina. Well, at least in comparison to him…

"Hey, don't leave me hanging here!"

I turned around, still a bit disoriented and wobbly, but I was sure I could make it to my dorm without being caught. I doubted that the directors would look kindly upon drunk students roaming the campus. Most of what we did in the dorms was our own business (except for sneaking around at night, which was heavily frowned upon), but as soon as it was out in the open, we were fair game to anyone who felt like snitching.

"Go down on your knees, and beg like you're broke and the rent's due tomorrow. Then hope she loves you enough to let you keep your nuts," I told James, and then gave him a wave, focusing all my effort at walking straight.

I managed to make my way to the dorm undetected, and I was giddy when I unlocked to door and stepped in. That's when the happy moment ended. Inside, Alice sat on the couch with Rosalie, looking upset as hell, both of them had their cell phones more or less attached to their heads. They both snapped up when I closed the door, and Alice was at my side before I could even say hi.

"Bella! Where the fuck have you been? Have you any fucking idea how worried we've been? You don't just storm out like that, and why is there a rumour that the twins have a bounty on your head. And why the fuck do you smell like beer?" Alice spluttered, dragging me to the couch.

"You're irritating," I snickered, my drunkeness deciding to make one last apperarance.

"Are you drunk? God, she's drunk, just what I fucking needed. Who the fuck bought you booze, Bella? Just tell me so I can get that prick out of the way."

"James bought me beer," I replied, figuring it was best to tell the truth.

"James? Who's James?" Rose asked cautiously.

"You know, I don't know, but he looks mighty fine in a towel."

"Fuck! Bella! You hooked up with a stranger? Did you not listen to us first week? Stay out of trouble. Do you know how long you've been gone?"

I looked at my watch.

"An hour? You freak out after I've been gone for an hour? Get a life."

"You disappeared, not saying where you were going, you didn't answer your phone, hell, I freak out for less!" Alice exclaimed, gesturing widly.

"She does," Rose pointed out, while I checked my phone. No wonder I hadn't heard any calls, the battery had died. "She even hauled Jasper's ass in here and had him make a sweep of the school."

"Jasper? Jasper was looking for me?" I all but stuttered.

"Yeah… You know, he's really sorry about earlier…"

And where was he now? Why wasn't he here with my two oversensitive dorm mates? Why wasn't he here?

"Well, isn't that convenient," I answered snappishly. "Sending a messenger, really mature."

I got up from the couch and began marching towards my room.

"Bella, come on, be fair," Rose yelled after me.

"Oh, I be fair? How about I be fair when I get a sincere apology from your precious brother for calling me a bitch, okay? I am not a bitch!"

I rushed into my room, slammed the door shut and fell down on my bed. God, I hated this day.

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**A/N**: James asked nicely if he could be a nice guy. He gave me hot abs, I gave him a nice personality. Fair, yes?

As always: Show some love!


	9. Chapter 8: The Rise & Fall of Bella Swan

**A/N**: Thank you all for the lovely reviews, it's awesome to get such positive feedback on this fic. Sorry for the wait, but I had a hard time getting this chapter together. Bells and Jazz weren't totally cooperative, so forgive me. I hope the chapter turned out okay, especially the bit about the pointe shoes. Do correct me if I screwed anything up. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. I just put (most of) them in ballet school.

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_8:__ The Rise and Fall of Bella Swan_

I don't know how long I'd been asleep when I finally woke up, but my room was dusky, so I'm guessing it had been an hour or so. I was still in my clothes, recklessly sprawled out across the bed, and my neck was killing me from having slept in a funky position. Yawning lazily, I rolled off the bed, listening intently. There was no sound, neither from the livingroom, nor the other bedroom. Either Alice and Rose were asleep (not likely), extremely quiet (again, not likely), or simply not in the dorm.

I peeled off my jeans and t-shirt and pulled on a pair of faded black sweats and a white wife beater, and walked out of my room. There was no one in the livingroom, but there was a small note waiting for me on the board:

_B-. Didn't want to wake you. We went out to grab a bite with Em, join us if you want to. Call us to get directions. Xoxo, Al & Rose._

I can't say I was all that tempted. Sure, some food would be nice, since I hadn't eaten anything all day, but company… Not so much. This day had been shit as it was, no need to push my luck by adding more people to the mix, and wherever Alice and Rose went, there was bound to be people, and lots of them. I went back into my room, digging out my new Grishko pointe shoes. I had placed the order from a shop in Washington after my first pointe class with Miss Irina Denali, and had gotten them just last week. They weren't properly worn in yet, so I still wore the old ones to class, with made Miss Irina give me the evil eye all through class. I had had time to get the soles and toes of the shoes shredded, as well as getting the shank bent, but I hadn't actually danced in them yet, which was what I really needed. This was as good a time as any to try dancing in them, since there was nothing else I felt like doing at the moment.

With shoes in hand, I ghosted down the corridors to one of the smaller dance studios at the very end of the large complex that housed student dormatories and a few dance studios. I laced on the shoes, went over to the barre and began warming up: pliés, tendus, degages, fondus, frappes. Since I had new shoes on, I spent a little extra time warming up, getting used to the new shoes. Finally, I left the barre, trying out a few pirouettes and arabesques, and so far it felt okay, though I knew breaking in new shoes was tedious and always took a long time (at least for me). Still, I loved the process, the sense of security that came along with feeling the shoe becoming almost a part of me, it was undescribable. Much to my irritation, I also noticed that my pliés were starting to suck again.

Apparantly, the Jasper-effect was only temporary.

This made me mad. I wanted my technique to be not good, or great, but perfect. I wanted to rub my flawless movements in Alec and Jane Rushmore's faces and I wanted to do it now. I whirled around the dance studio like a raving tornado, fluttering, jumping, streching aggressively after that elusive perfection. My feet ached like they were about to fall off, I was so frustrated at myself that I refused to give up before I had nailed one movement perfectly. One movement, it was all I asked for. One perfect movement to rectify this fuck-up of a day.

After a lot of cussing and some wall-kicking, I finally nailed a perfect grand jeté, and I mentally exhaled, allowing myself a thumbs up for it. I laced off the shoes, and grimaced at my feet. They weren't pretty. Pain is effing love, baby, and I would ponder that love back at the dorm while soaking my feet in hot water.

Having spent so much time en pointe, and in new shoes, I found myself wobbling for the door. I opened it, and wobbled right into Jasper, because of course fate wanted to give me one last kick in the shins.

The silence hovering between us was the epitome of the pink elephant in the room. None of us wanted to be the first to say something, and I bet both of us thought about what Alice and Rosalie would say if they saw us (something alone the lines of "you're idiots!" laced with a multitude of profanities).

"You were great," he smiled, nodding to the studio.

I had absolutely not been great. I had been a raving, dancing lunatic, but my mind was too busy processing the fact that he had been watching me to point that out.

"Thanks," I replied politely, and then I remembered that I was mad at him.

"So…" Jasper began stiffly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Where were you today? I… We looked for you like crazy."

Really? Like crazy? For a guy who had called me a bitch, he sure suddenly knew how to choose his words.

"I met this guy, followed him home and got drunk," I replied honestly, not feeling like telling Jasper anything but the truth, because I had a feeling it would sting. And right on cue, Jasper's eyes got all bulged, and his jaw dropped.

"What?" he exclaimed wildly. "You followed a stranger home an' got drunk? Are you completely suicidal?"

"No. I was upset, for very obvious reasons."

My voice was steady, the tone pointed, and I could see how realization flashed across his face.

"So was I, you know…" he told me, a tad sourly.

"Really? You had no reason to be upset, Jasper! Hell, you didn't even bother to stay long enough to get introduced to Jake, which I was going to do when you decided to go all drama queen on me and fucking leave!"

At this accusation, he had the decency to actually look a bit ashamed, like he knew his mama had raised him better or something. I sighed wearily. Why did all guys have to be morons by default?

"Look, Jasper, it's fine. You don't owe me anything. No apologies or turnouts. Just tell me who to thank for pulling the stick out of your ass, and we can both go back to celebrating the weekend."

I just couldn't resist the remark, 'cause he had really behaved like a stuck-up brat. Unfortunately, Jasper had quite the fucking comeback to throw in my face:

"Fine. Ask whoever stuck it up yours, I bet it's the same person. Goodbye, Isabella."

Jasper turned to leave, and he almost made it halfway down the hall before I regained momentum. I thought I had been so smart about the stick-in-your-ass-remark, but obviously Jasper had been able to turn it around. Then again, he was related to Rose.

"Hey!" I yelled after him.

He didn't stop, so I started to follow him, first walking then running (as best as I could with aching feet).

"Jasper!"

No response. Was he so intent on ignoring me that he would do this? Apparantly so, and it annoyed me to no end.

"Jasper, I know you can hear me, and by God if you're doing this to torture my feet, then I will gladly return that malice in kind, and dance en pointe all over your family jewels!"

He kept on walking, but I noticed how he slowed down his pace, and also how his shoulders seemed to be shaking. That fucker was laughing at me. I pushed away the throbbing pain, and dashed the last few yards so I could walk next to him.

"You are an idiot you know that, right? I know it, Alice knows it, and I bet Rose knows it too whenever she and Emmett come up for air," I panted through my teeth, unable to keep the pain away.

All I got in reply was a cocked eyebrow.

"Okay, you don't want to talk, fine, I'll talk, I can talk for both of us, and I will make voices and stupid, silly sounds and annoy the hell out of you, but can we at least stop walking?"

No reply, no stopping, he kept on walking and treating me as if I wasn't there, which I very much was. I mean, it wasn't like we were friends or anything, but if he'd had the decency to look ashamed when I'd called him on his bullshit, he should be able to show an almost sworn enemy some mercy, right?

No.

"You know what, I'm not even gonna talk, 'cause nothing I say to you will faze you, am I right? I'm just gonna follow you, I'm gonna be like a freaking bandaid on you, a leech if you will. I will not leave you until you and I have a talk about this fucked up whatever that's gotten between us."

The band-aid and leech parables gave me an idea. Why not make it literal? I slowed down, and positioned myself a few yards behind him. I knew my feet would protest wildly, but with any luck they'd get a break after that, so in one-two-three brisk steps and a smooth jump, I hopped onto Jasper's back, pulled my knees up and slithered them around him, and clung to him tightly. He jerked, surprised by the sudden addition in weight on his back, and almost crashed into a wall.

"What are you doing, Bella?" he asked, bewildered, when he was once again steady.

"I said, 'like a leech', did I not?" I beamed, not entirely bummed about being so close to him.

He smelled good, and I rested my head against the nape of his neck, feeling the muscles in his neck flex and hearing his pulse through his skin. I almost hoped Jasper would stay obstinate for a long, long time, because I kind of liked hanging onto his back.

"You're impossible, you know that, right?"

"I'm impossible? I'm sorry, who was it that believed a rumour rather than the target of the rumour?" I countered cockily as I pulled myself up so as not to slither off him.

Jasper sighed wearily, then took hold of my legs, so instead of just clinging to him like a deranged person, I was piggyback riding, which in my eyes would look way better from an outside perspective.

"So, who do I have to thank for spreading a rumour about me?" I asked, after we'd turned the corner and stood in the dormatory hall.

"It's stupid…" Jasper mumbled, hoisting me higher up on his back, starting to walk down the hall.

"So what else is new?"

"Can't you just drop it, Bella? An' while you're at it, stop blamin' me for this mess, it wasn't like you came runnin' after me to explain the situation."

"Calling me a fool doesn't really get me in the mood for explaining anything."

"Fine, so that move wasn't my smoothest to date…"

"And you think calling me a bitch in front of Alice, Alice of all people, wouldn't get back to me?" It was more of a fact than a question.

"Bella, you had busted my ass, not doin' anything to really make me believe that that… guy wasn't your boyfriend," Jasper pointed out, and I let out a snort.

"Please, it was Jake! I've known him for ages, and he has a girlfriend who's probably kicking his butt back at the reservation as we speak," I explained, making a mental note to call Jake tomorrow and ask him just how bad of throwdown there was when he got home.

"You knew that. Jake knew that. I didn't."

I bit my lip. That was true. Knowing Jake, having him as a friend, was a given to me, but anyone else was pretty much in the dark. I suspected Alice still didn't really buy the whole friend-story, especially after seeing Jake in person. Jake was easy to like, no doubt about that, but I couldn't love him, not in the gooey-kissy-kissy kind of way, and he understood that.

We continued roaming the dormatory in relative silence. At one point we met Riley and Benjamin, who had been (well, technically still were) in my mentor group. They had turned out to be annoying little buggers, Riley in particular, and I had seen them trying to get on the twins' good side a couple of times. They leered suggestively at me and Jasper when we passed each other in the hall, so I gave them a moderately snappish "Mind your own business, ass hats!" to go. They snickered, and I gnashed my teeth. Like good little wannabe drones, they would make sure this would get back to the twins, and my life would suck just a little bit more than it already did.

"Do you really think I'm a bitch?" I asked Jasper when Riley and Benjamin were out of earshot.

Jasper didn't answer immediately, but pondered his answer for quite a while, which didn't exactly calm me.

"You are…" he began hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"You are headstrong," Jasper finished, and I felt… disappointed.

"Come on, Jasper, I'm a big girl, I can tolerate the truth," I urged him, lying through my teeth. If he told me I was really a bitch I would not be happy. I would kick his ass, and then I would kick my own, because that would only prove Jasper right.

"You're headstrong, Bella. Feisty, stubborn, impulsive, a stickler for details an' you take offense easily."

"Wow…" I said, processing the accusations. "That is the most… diplomatic rephrasing of the word 'bitch' I've ever heard."

"You're welcome."

So, I really was a bitch, at least by Jasper's definition. And here I'd been under the impression that I was just an ambitious and persistent perfectionist. I was glad Renee wasn't here. Had she heard someone talk to her precious little ballerina like that, he or she had been dead already. My mother, as caring and scatterbrained as she was, thought I was the best of the best. Which mother doesn't, really? Renee was fiercly protective, which is also why she had reacted so badly to my going away to school like this. I just hoped Christmas would come soon, so I could get her to chill out a little bit. My phonecalls to her always tended to end on a dramatic note these days.

"Hey, where are we going?" I asked, when I realized we'd been walking around the dorm for quite some time.

"I don't know," Jasper replied amusedly. "Your highness never gave the noble steed any clear directions."

"Okay, then, my noble steed, where are we?"

"Because surely I have a built-in GPS-unit in me…"

"Don't be like that…"

"We're in the south corner of the dormatories, if I'm correct, so basically pretty far from both your room and mine," Jasper informed me after having looked around. "Next stop Casa Bella?"

"Yes, please. My feet…" I whined, tightening my grip on Jasper.

"Yeah, yeah, your feet are killin' you…"

We set off through the mazelike corridors of the dormatories, occasionally passing a few students, but otherwise it was pretty much just the two of us moving around. Jasper didn't say much, he only nodded at passing students if he knew them, and didn't offer any more conversation, which irked me a bit. I wanted to talk. I wanted to ask if we were okay, if he was mad at me anymore, if we could suffer through Aro Vincenza's ballroom dancing class without trying to kill one another. I chewed on my lower lip, constantly trying to ask Jasper something, but always getting stuck just before I was about to ask him.

We must have been halfway, maybe more, when I finally managed to open my mouth and actually ask him:

"So… Truce?" I asked, crossing fingers and toes, hoping he would say yes.

"As long as you don't run off with any strangers," Jasper joked, once again hoisting me higher up so I wouldn't fall.

"Because that's something I do every day just for kicks…"

We laughed about it, and I got the feeling that we were back to a normal level of idiocy. This was good. This meant we could both have a good weekend before meeting up in the awkward social ritual that was ballroom dancing. Everything was good. And then it happened.

Out of nowhere, someone came zooming past us, pushing Jasper, who lost his balance. He fell over, hitting the floor with a loud crash. He was not the only thing to crash, though. My legs were still wrapped around Jasper's waist, and we hit the floor at an angle that pinned my left foot almost literally between a rock and a hard place, namely the floor and Jaspers hip. My body's reaction was instantaneous.

"Bella? Bella, are you okay?" Jasper asked me frantically as he rolled off of me.

The pain seering through my foot was even worse than anything I could have ever imagined. I had never injured myself worse than a couple of grazes when I was little. The pain that came along with dancing ballet paled in comparison to this. I felt like I should be crying, or at least screaming at the top of my lungs, but the pain had all but shocked the tears and screams right out of me. I simply sat there on the floor, holding on to my foot for dear life.

"Bella?" Jasper repeated anxiously, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye he was rubbing his wrist, and I was scared I had broken him.

"Pain," I managed to say, sounding strained and oddly detached, focusing my eyes on my injured foot as if something would happen to it the second I let my eyes wander.

"Can you walk?"

I shook my head, eyes still fixed on the foot.

"Can you try to get up?"

"No!"

I was… scared? I didn't want to get up, didn't want to move an inch. Jasper crouched beside me, putting his hands one my hands.

"Bella, I'm going to get Alice and Rosalie…"

"Not home," I interruped him.

"Okay…" Jasper breathed, pausing to think. "Then I'll get Felix, and we'll get you to a hospital. You stay put, don't move. I'll be right back."

"Ice pack," I stammered before Jasper got up.

"What?"

"I… I need an ice pack. For the foot."

"I think Peter has got one back at the dorm, I'll bring it back with me," Jasper promised with a smile. "Will you be okay?"

"I'm fine," I said automatically. "I'll be fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm... fine," Jasper affirmed me, and I couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

He set off, and I was alone in the dusky corridor. Of all the fucking rotten luck, I had to get injured now. I wouldn't be able to dance… And my insides felt like a bomb had went off. I wouldn't be able to dance. At all. No ball room dancing with Jasper, no pointe work with Miss Irina, no technique classes with Caius Giuliano (wait, why would that be sad?). No dancing for a long, long time.

And my foot hurt even more.

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**A/N**: Lots of pain here. Reviews make it go away. *blink blink*


	10. Chapter 9: Support System

**A/N**: I felt so bad for neglecting this story, so I've been multitasking the hell out of my days to bring you this. It's been fun, though. Thank god for the notes-function on my phone, that's all I'm saying!

I googled a lot about the medical stuff in this chapter, and I'm using that and some of my own experiences (a busted ligament in my left knee and a sprained left ankle) to set Bella's recovery time. I'm not saying this is the correct recovery time, but it is what I came up with after having consulted Google and my memories. Enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I make them dance and twirl.

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_9: Support System_

Two to three months. They might was well have told me to kiss my ballet career goodbye. I huffed discontentedly.

After Jasper had left me to get Felix, I sort of lost track of time. I know Jasper returned with Felix in tow, and that they carried me out and into a cab. I know I arrived at a hospital, and judging from the glorious absense of pain and apparant grogginess, I'd been given some sort of pain medication.

Not until a doctor, a surly man by the name of Alistair, gave me the timeline for my recovery did I snap out of the daze.

"Two to three months?" I exclaimed, suddenly feeling on the verge of tears. Two to three months was an eternity!

"Three weeks on crutches, another three accustoming the food to walking. You can begin training lightly again after that, nothing ostentatious if you wish to avoid future trouble with your feet," Alistair informed me monotonously, scribbling away on my chart.

"That's six weeks, where'd the other two to four weeks come from?"

"Those would be the weeks spent accustoming the foot to training the way you used to before the accident…"

"But you're sure I can begin dancing, like really dancing, after that?" I urged desperately.

"Miss… Swan," the doctor said in a mildly condescending tone. "You obviously take your calling very seriously. If you want to keep doing that, you need to stop questioning my judgment and trust me. I can set you up with physiotherapy once you can walk without the crutches, and schedule an appointment for you with myself and the physiotherapist in, say, two and a half months to assess the situation. Understand this: you have a grade 2 sprain, meaning there was some tearing, though not completely. It hurst, but no bones were broken, so with proper care I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to dance again."

I stared at the grumpy doctor, thinking about what he'd told me. Sifting through his sanctimonious speech, I could decipher this: If I did what Doctor McGrumpy here told me, I would be able to dance again. That was enough for me.

"That sounds… acceptable," I offered hesitantly, nodding to the doctor.

"Okay then. We'll see you in three weeks. I'll have someone call to confirm the physio appointment."

He signed the chart, handing it to a passing nurse before turning to Jasper and Felix, who had been sitting on either side of the gurney I had been placed on.

"A nurse will be here shortly with the crutches, and then you boys can take Miss Swan home. Does she have anyone who can help her..?"

Doctor Alistair left the question hanging, but the implied meaning was obvious, and I made a face. Hello, I had a sprained ankle, I was not a cripple!

"Yes," Jasper replied quickly. "She shares her dorm with my sister and my cousin, they will take good care of her."

Felix nodded in agreement, and the doctor took off, no doubt to crush someone else's evening. In that moment, all I wanted to do was flip the doctor off. This was a catastrophe. I wouldn't be able to dance until next year. Next year! Un-fucking-believable, un-fucking-acceptable and un…

I couldn't even come up with another un-word to stick a "fucking" in that would fit the situation. Un-fucking-acceptable.

"Bella, are you okay?" Jasper asked me, concern in his voice.

I looked at him, then at my swollen and bruised foot, and cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm fine," I replied sarcastically.

"You've hardly said a word since we carried you out of school," Felix told me. "The nurses thought you were in shock when you wouldn't tell them how much your foot hurt."

"So screwing up my first year at the most prestigious ballet school in the country is not shocking?" I rebutted aggressively. "I can't dance, Felix! I'm fucking obsolite to the directors. I might as well pack and go home!"

"Who's the drama queen now?" Jasper quipped playfully.

"I'm not being a drama queen, I'm being realistic here."

"You're upset, we get that, but you're also pretty pumped with pain meds, so don' pack your bags yet. Rose and Alice will just haul you back if you try to leave, an' you know it."

I didn't get to answer that ridiculous claim, since a nurse showed up with my crutches and one of those cast-contraptions that are meant to keep your foot in position. I grunted and whined when the nurse twisted my left foot in place before strapping on the support cast and giving me instructions on how and when to use it, and then got a quick lesson in how to walk on crutches. Felix had been snickering at my wimpy behaviour, but quickly quieted down when he realized I was in possession of a possibly lethal weapon. That thought had already crossed my mind, and I would put the crutches to good use when I found the unlucky bastard who had pushed Jasper and thus caused the fall. I would shove one crutch up the sucker's ass and beat him (or her) to pulp with the other. For causing such a catastrophe, I thought it to be a very just punishment.

All the time since I had snapped out of my daze, Jasper had been standing with his hands behind his back, so when we moved to leave I noticed his left wrist was bandaged, and I just stopped and stared.

"What did you do?" I asked, and I was surprised that I sounded so panic-stricken.

Jasper turned, and saw me eyeing his wrist. I could tell from his expression that he had made a point of trying to hide it from me.

"It's nothing…"

"Jasper, you're hand is in a bandage, it's something."

"You're overreacting, I banged my wrist when we fell. Nothin's broken or sprained, they just bandaged it and told me to take it easy for a few days."

I glared at him, annoyed that he'd been hiding his "banged" wrist, and I continued towards the exit. Jasper and Felix flanked me like they were my bodyguards, which was a tad ridiculous to imagine, but still. They called up a cab, and it turned out to be much harder getting into a cab with crutches and a support cast, than without. We ended up creating a minor roadblock, but I could only laugh about it. I took up most of the backseat, leaning against Jasper (not a bad side effect, all things considered), while Felix rode shotgun in the front. I let myself just lean back, then closed my eyes and instantly dozed off. I always was a talented car-sleeper.

The twenty minute cab drive felt like three seconds. Felix helped me out of the cab, and both guys helped me get up the stairs without falling over or backwards with the crutches. By now, my palms were burning, making me bite down so hard on my bottom lip I though I was gonna draw blood.

When we entered the dormatory building, and Jasper sent Felix back to their own dorm, while Jasper himself would accompany me to my dorm.

"In case Rose an' Alice have gotten home, you might need some support. This will not go by quietly."

I smirked, and started hopping down the corridor.

"You know, you shouldn' jump forward like that, it just makes your hands hurt," Jasper pointed out when we turned the first corner.

"But this is the fastest way to travel with these things," I complained, aware of the fact that I was hopping way more than I was supposed to.

"I'm in no hurry, an' neither should you be…"

"Fine…" I muttered, slowing down and walking like I was supposed to walk; allowing the foot to move the way it would if I was walking normally, but instead shifting the weight by supporting myself on the crutches rather than the foot. "Just don't blame me if we're old enough to retire when we get there," I warned him mockingly.

Jasper laughed, apparantly finding my grouchy attitude amusing. Other than that, he walked silently by my side all the way to my dorm, and I feared that there would come an awkward moment any second now.

"Bella?" he spoke carefully when we were just outside the door.

Yup, here it was. Awkward moment, party of one. I decided not opening my mouth would work in my favor, so I just looked at him attentively.

"I'm…" Jasper began, faltering slightly. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier today. I was outta line, an' callin' you a bitch right then was… uncalled for."

"You're just saying that because I'm injured and can beat you up with these death-sticks," I teased him, hitting him lightly on the leg with one of the crutches.

"Maybe… But I really am sorry. I should've known better."

Well, well… I was impressed.

"Apology accepted. And I'm sorry, too. I guess my closet-bitch decided to go public." I winked and nodded to the door. "Are you ready?"

"I think I'll take lead on this one," he said with a smile.

I handed him my key, and he stepped up, quietly unlocked and opened the door, his bandaged hand once again behind his back.

"Bella? Is that you?" Rose yelled loudly from somewhere inside.

"So help me God if you're drunk again, Bells, I will…" Alice's voice was loud and shrill as always, and it seemed to be getting closer to us. "Jasper? What the hell? What are you doing here? Why do you have Bella's keys? Where is she?"

Alice peppered him with questions, and I felt kinda bad for him.

"Don't freak out," he more or less blurted, and I sighed inwardly. Really? This was supposed to be my support person?

Alice shoved Jasper out of the way, and I was suddenly eye to eye with Alice, who looked bewildered as fuck. Her eyes got impossibly wider when she took in my appearance: touseled hair, crutches, support cast… This should be good…

"Rose!" she yelled loudly over her shoulder, not breaking eye contact with me, then continuing in a more normal tone. "What the fuck, Bella?"

"I'm fine," I replied automatically, realizing that this comment was just about as useful as Jasper's had been.

I saw Rosalie prance out of their room, ready to give me an earful, but just like Al, she stopped dead once she saw me, and stared at me.

"What in the name of motherfuck! What happened to you?" Then she spotted Jasper standing beside me. "Why are you here? Did you do this?"

Well, that was nice, I could see the sibling love just flooding over. Jasper pulled up his hands instinctively to indicate he had had nothing to do with it, effectively flaunting his bandaged wrist to Rose and Al. Of course they didn't miss it.

"Did you two have a fight? Like a real fist fight?" Rose asked incredulously.

"No, we didn't fight," I told her, before Jasper could blurt out another unhelpful comment. "And honestly, I'm fi…"

"She's fine," Alice finished for me, visibly upset. "Can't you see, Rose, just how fine she is?"

Uh-oh… Al was beginning to sound more and more hysterical. She looked me right in the eye, and I knew this was it.

"Bella, you're walking with crutches, you have a fucking support cast on your foot, and you look like you've been dragged through the woods. You are not fine. Shit! Jazz, seriously, if I find out you had anything to do with this, I'm gonna…"

"He didn't," I replied hastily.

When I threatened someone with bodily harm, it was mostly for dramatic effect. Over the weeks, I had gotten the feeling, though, that when Alice threatened someone with bodily harm, she was serious.

"Then who did?" Rose inquired. "Is it someone we know? Can I bring in Em for punishment administration?"

"I didn't see who it was…" I turned to Jasper. "Did you see anything?"

"You were together when this happened?"

Alice looked surprised, Rose even more so.

"Yes," Jasper affirmed. "Bella decided she needed to talk, so she ended up piggyback ridin' me through the dormatory when someone, I don' know who, rushed past and knocked me over. I fell, an' Bella's foot got a bit… mangled."

"So now that we've established that I'm injured, and that Jasper had nothing to do with it, can we come in?" I asked, looking longingly at my bedroom door.

Alice and Rose moved out of the way, and I entered, followed closely by Jasper.

"How bad is it?" Rose asked, glancing at my foot.

I bit my lip. For me it was a disaster.

"She's got a grade 2 sprain," Jasper explained in my place. "She'll be usin' the crutches for three weeks, then spend another three in physiotherapy."

Yeah. That was the fancy version of my injuries. I walked past my dorm mates, heading for my bedroom.

"When can she dance again?" Alice wondered, anxiously monitoring my movements as I got to my bedroom door and opened it.

"Never…" I gruffed sourly. I still maintained that belief, it was just that bad to me.

Rosalie and Alice gasped, and even though I had my back to him, I knew Jasper was rolling his eyes at me.

"Two to three months," he corrected me. "Bella's bein' dramatic."

"That's great, Bella!" Rose gushed, and for a second it looked like she was about to hug me.

"It's not great," I said dejectedly. "No dancing for at least two months. I'll fall behind, I'll get suckier than I already am, the twins will be on my ass like never before to taunt me for this, and I'll end up leaving the school in disgrace. I can already hear Caius Giuliano laugh in triumph…"

There was a beat of silence, and I used it to slump down on my bed.

"No," Alice said, crossing her arms. "You don't suck. Never have, never will. You will not sulk, I forbid you. In fact, if I see one more sulky look and hear one more whiny comment from you I will royally kick your ass."

I stuck out my tongue at her. Typical of Al to refuse to face facts.

"It's still two months of no ballet. I can't do shit to stay at the level I'm at now. I can't go en pointe, can't do pirouettes, I can't even fucking warm up! And this is not me whining, this is me being honest!"

"You think we'll stand by and let you convince yourself your ballet career has gone up in flames?" Rose countered, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah, Bella, you heard the doctor. He said you whould be able to dance again," Jasper added encouragingly.

"Should. He said 'should, and 'should' indicates uncertainty," I protested, eyeing my foot in the cast. It seemed to look worse everytime I looked at it.

"Now you're just being crazy ass negative," Al rebuked me, chortling. "We'll help you, okay? You and Jasper seemed to have some deal about your pliés, right? And Rose is really good with arabesques and jetés."

"And you, Al?"

"Well, if I may say so myself, I make the best damn ponytails and buns this place has ever seen."

She seemed so serious when she said it, but seconds later she was laughing, and Rose was laughing with her. Even I smiled at her joking attitude.

"No, but seriously, my attitudes kick some serious ass, so I got you covered there. We'll all help you with pointe work when that situation comes around. So, you see? It's going to be fine. You will be fine. As opposed to this, which is so not fine, no matter how many times you say it."

They were so convinced, and I… I wanted to be convinced. I wanted to be able to see myself dancing again, I wanted for this day to become a distant memory or a fragment of a bad dream. I simply couldn't. Not now, at least.

"I'll… be fine," I said, knowing that they wouldn't give up until I gave some sort of sign that I was on board with this crazy endeavour.

"That's the spirit!"

Rose and Alice soon excused themselves. Rose were heading over to Emmett (no surprise), and Alice said she was heading "out", which was suspiciously vague of her. Either she was making a crude attempt at getting me alone with Jasper, or she had some prior committment she felt she had to keep hush hush. She flitted out of my room, and a little while later I heard her close the door to the dorm. I looked at Jasper, who was standing by my overcrowded desk, and I remembered that I still hadn't gotten around to cleaning my room, which was a little embarrassing. Then again, what was the point of worrying? It wasn't like I would be able to do some hardcore cleaning anytime soon.

"You will pull through this, Bella," Jasper said, and sat down next to me where his sister had been sitting earlier.

"You keep telling me that…"

"Why don't you believe us then?"

"My foot is in a freaking cast, and it hurts. That enough for you?" I replied testily, and made a mental note of taking an Advil before I went to sleep.

"It won't always be in a cast an' it won't always hurt," Jasper pointed out sensibly.

"Right… Now the support system kicks in."

"What do you mean?"

I started giggling. He really couldn't guess?

"'Don't freak out'?" I paraphrased him between giggles.

"Okay, so I was maybe banking on Rose opening the door…" he admitted, snickering.

"Next time, I'll take lead, it will save us both some effort, and you can keep your injuries a secret."

"Sounds good… Okay, so I'd better go, too. You must be tired."

"Not much," I lied.

I was tired. From the pain, from the painkillers that were wearing off, from thinking about dancing or not dancing, from hearing Alice, Jasper and Rose being all peppy and cheery. I needed to think this through, sleep on it, plan ahead, talk to…

Fuck.

I needed to talk to the directors about changing my schedule since I wouldn't be dancing… for some time. I could handle one overzealous director at a time, but all three of them? That would be a test to say the least.

"You need any help, Bella?" Jasper smiled at me.

I was drawn back to the here and now, and blinked a couple of times.

"No, I'm good, I think," I replied quickly. "Thanks, though, for offering."

"Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Jasper."

He left, quietly closing both the door to my room and the door to the dorm behind him. I was left alone with my rampant thoughts, which was not good. I shook my head and hopped over to my desk to find some Advil from my bottom deskdrawer. I popped two in my mouth, swallowed them and got ready for bed, not quite and ordeal. I had to take off the supportcast, re-bandage my foot so it wouldn't be too tight and thus cut off the blood circulation. I had to find a pillow or something to rest the foot on and keep it slightly elevated. I was a hell of a lot of work all of a sudden, even to myself.

When my head finally hit the pillow, it was swarming with thoughts, and I had to try my hardest to push them away and find a quiet, tranquil place in my mind to rest in. I fell asleep quickly after that, dreaming of hitting Caius Giuliano on the head with my crutches, all while someone was laughing at me in the distance.

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**A/N**: Drop a review and make me nine kinds of happy!


	11. Chapter 10: Uneasy Talks, Dirty Thoughts

**A/N**: Thank you to all you lovely people who reviewed last chapter. You all deserve a Tightsper for your birthdays, Christmases and Easters. Speaking of which, Happy Easter to everyone, and enjoy chapter 10!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilights. In my head they dance and act mildly hormonal.

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_10. Uneasy Talks, Dirty Thoughts_

"Miss Swan? The directors will see you now," the overly-pleasant secretary, what's-her-name, told me.

I had, by some miracle or other, survived the weekend. I'd like to call that a step towards acceptance, but Alice, Rose and Jasper would probably have disagreed and called it "sulking in a room with a constantly closed door". That worked too. I spent all weekend trying to figure out what the fuck I was going to tell the directors, not to mention my parents. Renee would flip, that's for sure, and I was in no mood for handling a hysterical parental unit, especially when I had no idea if Phil would be there to keep her from doing anything stupid. I couldn't call Charlie, either. Not because he would throw a fit worthy of Renee, he wouldn't. Sure, he'd be upset as hell, but the real clinch was that he would ask me if mom knew about it, and I would have to say 'no', because Charlie can always tell when I'm lying. Then Charlie would feel obligated to call Renee, and she would have a hysterical breakdown because:

a) I had been injured

and

b) I had not called her first to tell her about it.

So, all in all, calling Charlie was way worse than calling Renee.

Anyhow, it was noon on Monday now. I had no plan whatsoever and I was fucking mortified of walking/hopping into the office where the three kings of this place were waiting for me. I stood up, moving deliberately slowly in hope that the slower I moved the greater the chance that God would decide this was a great day to test if divine intervention still worked.

Apparantly it wasn't, and I should've known, since neither Alice, Rose or Jasper had been able to accompany me. They all had classes, and I, well… didn't. So I had to go by myself, and I have no fucking idea how I managed it, it felt like I was a dead ballerina walking. Nevertheless, I had made it to the waiting room, and was now heading for the door to the directors' office, which the pleasant secretary held open for me. I took a deep breath and stepped in, my eyes fixed on my feet. I didn't want to look at them and see their reactions to my problem.

I expected yelling, reproaching, snide comments, meek statements. Anything. I got silence.

They were seated in large armchairs in the far right corner, not behind desks as I had thought they would. Perhaps this was meant to enhance the notion of putting up a united front or something equally ominous, 'cause noting says 'totalitarian tendencies' like sitting in an armchair in a corner, right?

Aro Vincenza, sitting between Marcus Santi and Caius Giuliano, had an expression of utter shock on his face. Mr. Giuliano looked more disgruntled than usual, while Mr. Santi just… looked at me, face blank. No wonder he was called Weirdo…

"Miss Swan? Care to explain your state?" Caius Giuliano said harshly, looking sternly at me.

"I… I was in a little accident on Friday," I stuttered. Shit. This did not start off well…

Normally, Asshat-Caius only irritated me, but now he was the Scary Monster holding my future in his claws.

"Elaborate, please," Aro Vincenza asked me, inclining his head to a fourth chair for me to sit on.

"Well… I… I was with a friend, and we were heading for my dorm," I explained weakly, sitting down on the chair offered. "We were just goofing around when someone rushed past us and pushed us, probably by accident. I lost my balance and landed a bit… wrong."

No need to let them in on the piggyback riding. Marcus Santi nodded quietly, I have no idea why. Mr. Giuliano still looked at me disapprovingly, wile Mr. Vincenza furrowed his brow, seeming distressed.

"How bad is it?" he asked kindly.

"Ehm…"

This was probably not the time to whine like I had done all weekend. They didn't care about me, per sé. They cared about my precious feet, my career, my possibilities of bringing glory to the school. I chewed my lip.

"The doctor said it's sprained. Nothing's broken, though," I finally replied neutrally.

"How long until you can dance?"

"Two to three months, if I don't screw anything up."

The three directors all looked at each other, cocking their eyebrows and exchanging significant looks.

"I have every intention of dancing again, I will follow the doctor's orders to the letter."

"Which was?" Marcus Santi asked me, his voice drawling and slightly wheezy.

"Crutches for three weeks, physio for three weeks after that, and then I can begin training lightly, taking into account of course that I mustn't overexercise the foot."

Mr. Santi nodded, but Caius Giuliano still wasn't happy.

"And what doctor told you this?" he asked aggressively. "Do you trust his opinion when your career hangs in the balance?"

His harsh words were like bombs in my soul, and for the first time I was absolutely terrified of Caius Giuliano. He looked like he was about to spontaneouly combust.

"What Caius means is," Aro Vincenza told me, having noticed my distress. "You're a valuable asset to this school, and we would not want to see your chances go up in smoke because of this."

Really? Caius Giuliano gave a rat's ass about my well-being? I fucking think not, and I wanted to tell him so, but kept myself cool, calm and collected.

"May I suggest you go see one of our doctors?" Aro continued.

"Your doctors?" I echoed, befuddled.

"The school has an agreement with a highly recommended private clinic here with plenty of skilled doctors, and we refer students there all the time."

"I…" I stammered. I was in no mood to see another doctor, but I wasn't really in any position to snub the guys who practically owned me and my delicate feet. "I guess that would be… acceptable."

"Splendid! We will call and set up an appointment for you. Now, since you can't dance for quite a while, have you given any thought to what you will do in the meantime?"

Not really. I was making this up as I go, and fortunately, I think fast on my feet.

"I was thinking I could try to schedule my physio appointments for when I would normally have for example pointe class, since pointe work is pretty much out of the picture for three months. Up until the time when I can fully participate in dance classes, I would very much like to sit in on them, if that would be fine?"

"What good would that do?" Caius Giuliano grunted surlily.

"I would at least see the movements, it would make it so much easier to catch up if I know how they are supposed to be executed," I replied steadily, determined not to let that buttwipe of a director scare me anymore.

"Visual learning…" Mr. Santi mused, scratching his chin. "It's…"

"There has been no proof to suggest it has any viable application for ballet traning," Mr. Giuliano interrupted with a bark.

"Now, now, Caius…" Aro Vincenza soothed, keeping his eyes fixed on me. "Do not reject this so lightly. What is the harm? Miss Swan won't bother anyone, will she?"

For three obviously successful directors, they sure seemed awfully thick-headed right now. It wasn't like I planned on sitting in on classes just to throw a one-woman rave and get high on foot sweat. Of course, pulling a stunt like that in Mr. Giuliano's class, just to see how he'd react would be kinda fun… I smiled and glanced up, only to realize I had three pairs of eyes on me, waiting for me to answer the question.

"No!" I replied hastily. "No, of course not."

"It's settled then. Miss Swan will see the good doctor, and focus on getting better, as well as sitting in on certain classes and attend her academic classes."

I nodded, thanked the directors and walked out of the office. It felt like such a relief to get out there, there was something extremely unnerving about that room…

I had managed to time my meeting so that when I turned the first corner, classes were dismissed, and people started to emerge from classrooms and studios. I edged closer to the walls, so as to avoid as much unnecessary bumping as possible.

"Bella!"

Rose was shouting somewhere behind me, and I slowed my pace until she had caught up with me.

"How did it go?" wondered Rose, tucking a few stray hair tresses behind her ear.

"Fucking beautifully," I muttered in reply.

"Really?"

"It was the fifteen most uncomfortable minutes of my life. Aro was being all concerned, Asshat questioned the doctor who treated me and Weirdo was being weird."

"What? You had a meeting with all of them?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Yeah..?"

"Hmm… They usually just make it a one-on-one talk, usually with the director in charge of the department you study at, which in your case is classical."

The thought of having the uncomfortable conversation with only Caius Giuliano was enough to make my stomach churn.

"So?" I asked. "What does it mean that they all saw me?"

"I have no idea. Maybe they're turning prematurely nice?"

Both of us smirked at that remark, but the smile quickly vanished from my face when I looked ahead. I spotted Jane and Alec heading our way, and I tightened my grip around the crutches in anticipation of the verbal onslaught.

For the second time today, I was met by the totally opposite reaction to what I expected. No snide remarks or mean innuendos. They actually smiled at me! Granted, it was a conceited and slightly condecending smile, but still… They should have said something, they always do, something about me being half a ballerina (and right now, no ballerina at all), followed by an insult (preferably in French, because they just loved subtle French insults).

"What was that about?" I said, mostly to myself.

"What was what?" Rose asked, having heard my musing.

"The twins… They didn't insult me."

Rose turned around, following the twins through the corridors.

"Huh," she commented and turned back. "They were probably too busy planning the Apocalypse," she then commented and winked. "Look, I gotta run. Irina Denali will have my ass if I'm late one more time."

"Run like the wind, sister," I said with a smile, nudging Rose to get going.

She dashed off, and one by one, students began disappearing into classrooms and studios. Everyone except me, and I caught myself missing it. Not until you're cut off from something do you realize how much you want it, even if it is technique class with Asshat Giuliano and the unamiable Hell Twins.

I made my way slowly from the lecture building to the dorm building, deciding on the way there that I needed to call my mom, hissy fit or no hissy fit. Not calling was not an option, all hell would break lose if I showed up at Charlie's on Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks with crutches and a support cast.

Upon entering the dorm building, I saw a note from Alice on the board ("Will b l8 2day"), and I made a mental note to grill her for details on why she was suddenly being so evasive. I sat down on the couch, which Al had thoroughly cleaned during the weekend, pulled out my phone from my pocket and speed dialled Renee.

"Hello?" she answered brightly after four tones.

"Hey, mom, it's me…" I began, unsure of how to get to the point.

"Sweetie! Good to hear from you! I was beginning to get worried, you didn't call this weekend. Lots going on in school?"

And of course she had to just shove me to the point. Fuckfuckfuck… Okay, this is a band aid, and I'm just going to rip if off and get it over with, I told myself.

"No, school's okay… Sort of," I hedged, biting down on my lip for a second. Okay, here goes. "Listen, there's something I need to tell you, and it's very important. Is Phil there?"

"What? Yes, Phil's here, we're out having lunch, you want to talk to him?" mom replied, concern already discernable in her voice.

"No! No, it's fine, it's… fine."

"What's this about, honey?"

"I… I…" I faltered, cursing silently.

Fuck, Bella! I chastised myself. This was not rocket-fucking-science!

"Honey?"

"I fell and sprained my ancle and now I can't dance for three months," I gushed in one breath, closing my eyes tightly, as if it would work.

"What?!"

Mom's reaction was instant, and it was almost a relief. I would have been really worried if she (of all people) hadn't said a peep.

"What happened?" Renee demanded, sounding both furious and worried out of her mind.

"I fell when I was piggyback riding…"

"I'm sorry? Did you just say you were piggyback riding?

Right. Maybe I should've kept that piece of information from mom, too…

"It's not that big of a deal," I said, thinking that it was useless to try to brush it off. "So, I was piggyback riding, and someone happened to bump into us." It was better to make it sound like an accident to Renee, or she would hunt down the person who did it, and trust me, whatever grizzly things I could do to someone, my mother could do ten times over. "Yeah, and we fell, and I landed in a less than stellar position, so now I've got a grade 2 sprain on my left foot. According to the doctor I saw, I can't dance for three months."

"Oh, my God, this is disastrous!" my mother whined loudly.

"It's okay, mom, I feel fine. Well, more or less fine, but that's what painkillers are for… I talked to the directors today, and they're gonna refer me to one of the doctors they have on their payroll to give a second opinion, and I'll go to physio and sit in on classes. It's gonna be fine. My room mates have already told me they'll help me," I assured her, in awe of how strangely convincing I sounded.

Renee sighed heavily. I had presented far too many encouraging facts for her to fight me on this.

"Does Charlie know?" she asked instead.

"Not yet."

"You want me to call him for you?"

"And let you fool him into thinking his daughter is half-dead, mom?" I countered, and heard Renee laugh. "I'll call him myself, I've been meaning to call him anyway."

"Okay, honey. You take care of yourself. Call if you need anything, anything at all."

I knew that tone. She missed me.

"I love you, mom," I said sincerely, smiling to myself.

"I love you, too."

We said our cheesy goodbyes, and ended the call. I was ready to call Charlie when someone knocked on the door.

"It's open!" I yelled, putting away my phone.

The door opened, and Jasper entered. Perhaps God was feeling bad for not sending me some divine intervention earlier, because he had sent Jasper in tights, which was like sex in tights. Guys can say what they want about tights, but if they want girls to ogle their goods, they should wear them. All the fucking time.

"Hey," Jasper greeted me, smiling. "How'd it go?"

"Oh, you know…" I said, trying to sound a little sarcastic while I was ready to melt from his smile. "Caius G, or as I will be calling him from now on, G-man, got all emotional over my injury, Weirdo turned normal, and Aro Vincenza talked to me like I wasn't a piece of furniture he owned, and my mom too the news really well."

"So, basically the meetin' was not that good, although you seem to have come out of it alive, which can only mean you struck some kind of deal. Sorry to hear you mom freaked out."

"She put up a good front, and I will not hear the end of the fact that I got injured while piggyback riding. She will hang on to this incident for a long time, and I will suffer for it," I explained, sitting up straight on the couch.

Jasper nodded knowingly, and I had the hardest time not checking out his legs. Or anything between them for that matter…

_He's a stud…_ a tiny voice in my head told me.

Fuck! I turned my head slightly away from Jasper.

_And the drawl…_ the voice continued maliciously.

Shut up! I told the little voice heatedly.

_And the legs…_

On cue, I glanced back to Jasper, and more precisely, his legs. I'm so gonna burn in hell for this.

_Not to mention the jewels…_ the voice noted contentedly.

Shutupshutupshutup!

"Bella?"

"What?!" I exclaimed, frightened that I had let something slip from my silent conversation with myself.

"You okay? You spaced out a bit…" Jasper said, looking at me worriedly.

"I'm fine! I'm great!"

And I managed to stop a mental image of you top- and tightsless… I remarked quietly. Thank God. The fiend inside of me chuckled heartily, and I knew I had to get rid of Jasper before I blurted out something that wasn't PG-rated.

"Listen, Bella…" Jasper began, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Jasper, you're really sweet for coming to check up on me, but I'm really tired, and… and I need to call my mom…"

"Didn' you already call you mom?" he asked, confused.

"My dad!" I corrected, panic in my voice. "I mean I need to call my dad before my mom gets to him and makes him think I've had to amputate my legs."

Fuck and anything fuckery-related, what the fucking fuck was I rambling about?

"Okay… I… guess I'll see you later. Bye, Bella."

He turned around and walked out of the room. I breathed a sigh of relief, and sprawled out on the couch. This was bad. If I couldn't be in the same room as Jasper without imagining him tightsless, then I was in trouble. Even as I tried to push the thought away, my mind pushed in another picture for me to blush over, and I decided perhaps it was best not to call Charlie just yet. I may need to gouge my eyes out, and scoure my brains with bleech first.

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**A/N**: This story has 83 reviews, anyone up for the challenge of making it 100? Leave some easter love, ya'll!


	12. Chapter 11: I Don't Like Him

**A/N**: Thank you to all awesome reviewers for helping me reach 100 reviews! Some of you were a bit miffed that Jazz didn't get to say what he wanted to say last chapter, but trust me, there is a point to all of it. Took me some time to get the new chapter up, but I wanted to post it before I'm going to London on Thursday (that is, unless that freaking volcano decides to be a major partypooper and get in the way of the plane, in which case I will be the one spitting out fire and brimstone). Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. By know, you all know what I did to them.

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_11. I Don't Like Him_

I should have known that Renee couldn't keep from calling Charlie. Fifteen minutes after my mindfuck conversation (or lack thereof) with Jasper, my phone started ringing off the hook, and I knew it was Charlie because I had programmed the phone to play _Papa, Don't Preach_ when he called. I cursed under my breath, not feeling entirely fucking ready to deal with an upset father. Fifteen minutes was not nearly enough to recover from brain filter breakdown, and I was still fighting dirty of Jasper from taking up permanent residence in my head.

"Injured, but still very much alive daughter speaking," I answered calmly, taking a breath to steady myself.

"Bella!" my father exclaimed. "What's happened? Renee just called and she was more incoherent than usual, going on about you getting injured, and something about pain and amputation. She hung up on me before I could even ask what she was babbling about."

Way to go, mom.

"I had an accident," I said, knowing that Charlie responded best to concise facts.

"My least favourite sentence," Charlie gruffed in reply. "What happened?"

"I fell and sprained my ancle."

Best to keep this on a need-to-know-only-level. No way I was gonna fuck this up by bringing up the piggyback riding.

"How bad is it?"

"Bad enough that I can't dance for three months, but at least I still have both my feet attached to me. I'm being referred to a doctor the school keeps on its payroll to get a second opinion."

"So in other words, it's a minor disaster," Charlie noted soberly. "How are you holding up, Bells?"

How was I holding up? Let's see. I can't do the thing I love the most for three months, I have a pair of hell fiends going all whiplash on me, I'm getting sent to some fancy fuck of a doctor, because apparantly the public health care system is just one step above some quack in the gutter. Oh, and I'm fantasizing about getting all nasty with my room mate's twin brother.

"Just peachy," I replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Charlie sighed into the phone, and I could picture him shaking his head at me. I think I remind him of mom in that sense. As far as humor and talking goes, I'm perhaps a bit more like Renee than Charlie, though I'm glad to have his genes to balance out my mom's zaniness. I didn't even want to imagine how I would've turned out if Renee had pulled a Virgin Mary and gotten pregnant without adding a guy to the equation.

"You're still on for Thanksgiving, right?" charlie asked me, and I detected a trace of anxiousness in his voice.

My visits to Forks meant the world to Charlie. He always acted like a proud mother hen whenever I spent time there, not to mention that he got a good home-cooked meal out of it. He never said it out loud, but I knew from sources (Jake, who got it from Harry Clearwater, who was Charlie's friend) that he talked about me a lot the days before I arrived, boasting about my accomplishments. It really warmed my heart, because Charlie could be pretty awkward socially.

"As if a sprained ancle could keep me from Sue's homemade stuffed turkey," I therefore replied cheerfully.

Sue was Harry's wife, and we always spent Thanksgiving with them, their kids (one of whom happened to be Leah, Jake's girlfriend) and Jake and his dad out on the rez, which perhaps could be construed as a bit ironic. The entire shindig was not so much about giving thanks as to just enjoy the food, hang out and watch Charlie and Harry yell at the tv like it would make a difference for the game shown.

Charlie chortled, knowing all too well that Sue's food was a highlight og my Thanksgiving visits.

"All right, then. You take care, Bella."

"You, too, dad. I'll call you and Renee after I've been to the doctor."

"Goodbye, Bella."

I ended the call, and sank back down on the couch. I texted Renee about her call, and she texted me back that she didn't mean to make it sound like I had to have my feet amputated, but that I _didn't_ have to have them amputated. I sighed at the reply, and put away my phone. Okay, dealing the parental units, check. Where was I before that?.

Right.

Trying not to molest Jasper with my thoughts. If there was anything good about me not being able to dance for three months, it was that I didn't have to worry about what dancing ballroom with Jasper while trying not to give in to the tempting scenarios in my head would be like. I'd just have to… take it easy, and not see him and not think about him, and possibly hibernate in my room for three months, and I'd be fine.

I tried sleeping a bit after that, in a futile attempt to maybe dream about any and fucking all of the mostly x-rated scenarios whirling around in my head, but of course, I couldn't sleep. My body was so used to being active during this time of day that lying down with the intent to sleep was impossible. I tried counting backwards from 100, but got bored around 37. I tried counting sheep, but the furry little fuckers turned into Jasper leaping through the air in slow motion, which gave me ample time to shamelessly ogle him some more. God, I was twisted… I finally settled for finishing my English and French, which took my mind off things for a while.

"Hello?"

I flinched and my Englishbook flew out my hands, landing on the floor with a spectacular thud. Rose was home. I glanced at my alarm clock. Holy hell, had I been staring at my English assignment for two hours without getting anything done?

"Bored cripple, party of one!" I yelled back, reaching for my book, and Rose was in my room in seconds.

"Wow, you are bored…" she commented when she saw me with the Englishbook, and I made a face back at her.

"Not like there's much else to do," I retorted. "Do you know where Al is?"

"She's gone again?"

"Well, not gone, just… somewhere. And all we got was a lousy, non-descript note that says she'll be back later. Is something going on with her?"

"Not that I know of," Rose answered, shrugging her shoulders. "But this is totally in line with Alice, some things she keeps to herself 'til she's ready to share. I know it sounds strange, but really, I wouldn't worry."

"Okay…"

Rose looked at me expectantly, and I began to have a funny feeling that she was waiting for me to say something so she could ambush me with questions.

"Yes, Rose?" I finally asked after having been stared at for two minutes. "Something you want to ask?"

"Nothing…"

"Bullshit. Let's try again. Spill, Rosalie. I'm injured, armed and dangerous. Don't tempt me."

"Jasper was here," she said, and looked very pleased and intrigued.

"How did you know?" I asked surprised. Rose was in class when Jasper was here.

"Saw him after class. He told me he'd stopped by."

"Well, he did," I said, and ready to turn my attention back to the English assignment.

"Bella, my brother is a fucking glorified hermit in ballet tights. He don't just casually drop by," Rose explained restlessly.

"He came to see if I was okay, big deal," I said, putting down my Englishbook, 'cause this was clearly going to take some time.

"He stopped by to check up on you?"

"Yeah. Asked me how the meeting went, you know."

"Cool. My brother has been bodysnatched," Rose mused. "That should make for an interesting Thanksgiving, since Emmett going back to Knoxville for the holiday."

I almost asked why they didn't celebrate together when I remembered. The Hales hated Emmett. That mystery still fascinated me, and I had to bite my tongue not to ask, because it seemed to be a sore subject.

"Can you keep a secret?" Rose asked me, and suddenly her eyes were all alight.

"Sure," I said, sitting up straight.

She closed the door, as if someone could otherwise hear us through the closed front door and the livingroom.

"We're getting married. Emmett and I!" she almost squealed, smiling widely.

"What?" I asked, trying not to sound so shellshocked. "When?"

"After Christmas, we're eloping. Emmett's not big on the whole white wedding thing, and well… My parents…"

"I'm so glad for you!" I exclaimed, steering the subject away from the issue of Rose's parents. "Does anyone else know?"

"Jasper and Alice know. I think Em may have told his roomie accidentally, and I told Jasper he could tell Peter and Felix if he wanted to. Thinking about it is what's gonna get me through the traditional Thanksgiving feast at the Haunted Hale House."

"Haunted Hale House?" I asked, smiling at the mental image (finally one not involving Jasper in tights and pretty much nothing else).

"You'd have to be either dead or very easily fooled to enjoy yourself there," Rose quipped with a sly smile.

I snorted at the joke, and Rose snickered at her witty reply.

"So Jazzy really did just swing by to check up on you?" she then asked.

"Yup. After all, he was there when I went down like a sucky version of Rocky, and I think I'm responsible for his banged wrist. Maybe he's haunting me?"

"Hm. Jasper casually swinging by. He has already cursed, and now he's acting even more human… No, I'm still thinking he's been bodysnatched."

With that she sauntered out of my room, leaving me alone with absolutely nothing to do, which meant the images came back. Jasper in tights, growling cursewords. It was an unsettling and extremely arousing image, and it ended with me taking a cold shower and seriously reconsidering the bleach- and hibernation-alternative. A growling, cursing greek god-beautful dancer in tights invading my thoughts could only mean one thing: a fuckton of problems.

Alice showed up just after six, and refused to tell us where she'd been. Rose and me finally had to change the subject, with Rose relaying the stop-the-press-news about Jasper's casual visit. But Alice seemed preoccupied by something, missing the entire point, which made Rose comment on something about everyone getting bodysnatched.

"Alice? Is everything okay?" I asked and sat down on the couch in the livingroom as Rose twirled away into her and Alice's room to call Emmett.

"What? No, I'm fine. It's just one of those days, you know. How about you? How did the nightmare-meeting go?"

"It went," I replied sighing. "There is something weird going on, fuck if I know what. The three kings were all present at the meeting to show their undying support and concern for my well-being, and they're sending me to some private doctor to confirm what the grouch at the hospital already told me. The Fiends didn't even open their sulfurous mouths when I passed them in the halls afterwards, though my general appearance would've provided them with a ton of insults that would have pushed my buttons just fine. Oh, and Jasper came by to check up on me. Rose is convinced he has been fucking bodysnatched."

"Really?" Alice said, now genuinely interested, though I had no idea what she found more curious.

"Really. The fuckery's afoot or whatever."

"Sure. It's really not like Jasper to just drop by…"

"Oh, come on!" I grunted irritably. "What the fuck is this about? He was with me when I got injured, he even injured himself in the process. No matter how asocial I'd be, even I would pay a visit to the person I got injured with. And why is it more interesting that Jasper visited me than the presence of all three directors at the meeting, or the lack of response from the Hell twins?"

"Because it's Jasper, Bells. You don't know him like me and Rose do, and he has never acted like this, it's very uncharacteristic of him. He is moody, you've seen that, but he usually keeps his temper in check, at times he's pretty much a meek robot. Okay, that sounded mean. The thing is, he's just never taken such an interest in anyone. Sure, he is polite and very gentlemanly towards everyone, but that's it."

"And the point of your point was completely lost on me," I replied.

"He likes you," Alice said, rolling her eyes at me, as if I should've been able to reach that deduction on my own.

"He does not!"

He couldn't. No way Jasper liked me, like… liked me, liked me. That was not good, it was fucking unacceptable, not with the softporn images running amok in my head. Had Alice told me this before I got all smitten and moronic, I would've relented to my inner über-girlie side and broken down in giggles and hysterics and wondered if I should call him.

But this was not a time for me to lose my head. Or wait, losing my head meant losing the pictures… and my life. Okay, literally losing my head was not an option. I needed to contain this, I needed to get my act together, and break free of the enigmatic influence Jasper had over me. When I could be with him in the same room without mentally undressing him while purring like a pussycat, then I could cut myself some much needed slack.

"Are you gonna give me some more of that half-assed crap you threw my way when you thought you 'knew' Jasper?" Al asked, looking at me like my reply had confirmed some twisted suspicion that I liked Jasper, too. Which, technically, I did. My liking was just a bit more… carnal.

"Alice, I just lost three months worth of dancing," I told her sternly. "Jasper happened to be with me when that happened. His interest is strictly professional, he left after he had asked about the meeting."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'we're just friends'… Yada, yada, yada, yawn, yawn, yawn."

"Alice!"

"What are you two yelling about?" Rose asked, peeking out from the room, her cellphone jammed between her shoulder and her ear.

"Jazz likes her," Alice replied quickly, pointing at me.

Fuck, fuck and fucking fuck, this is going to hell faster than I could conjure up disturbing images of Jasper.

"He does not!" I yelled hysterically.

"Oh, and she likes him," Al added.

Rose looked at my agitated appearance, and apparantly decided Alice was right.

"What?" she said into the phone, probably to Emmett. "It's nothing. Al just got Bella to more or less…"

"Rose!" I interrupted. "If you fucking finish that sentence I'm gonna go yell out your secret from the rooftops, and I fucking mean it!"

"Nevermind," Rose gruffed immediately to Emmett, giving me the evil eye and flipping me off. I flipped her right back.

"Don't get me wrong," I said and turned to Alice. "I like you, a lot, and I couldn't have gotten better roommates, but I can't fucking wait 'til Thanksgiving so I can get out of this madhouse."

I hopped into my room, slamming the door shut. Could this get any worse?

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**A/N**: Allrighty!

I chose Knoxville as Emmett's hometown, based on the snippets of information given in the Twilight-series and through other forums. The books only reveal that Emmett's from Tennessee and that he was mauled by a bear in the mountains. On the other hand, Stephenie Meyer has said that Emmett lived in Gatlinburg, which is 40-ish miles from Knoxville. I still went with Knoxville, because this isn't *the* Twilight, and had Emmett not been a vampire born in 1915, at least I could imagine his 20th century counterpart living in a slightly bigger city than Gatlinburg. No offense all you Gatlinburgerers (-burgers? –burgerese? *shut up brain*) out there. PB-Emmett just fits better in a bigger city. Knoxville is still sort of close to the mountains, if it's any consolation. Okay, now I need to stop rambling and let you review.

Work your "making the author very happy by writing a kickass review"- magic!


	13. Chapter 12: Shewolf at the Table

**A/N**: Thank you all you fabbity-fab readers (sorry, I've been reading too much Georgia Nicholson lately) for reviewing and cheering me on with this. London was great if you don't count the ruddy ashcloud that completely ruined our last day. I know you are all dying for more Jasper, but if you can live through Thanksgiving, I promise to give you hot tights-clad Jasper that will make Bella drewl. Maybe even literally.

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I make them dance.

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_12. Shewolf at the Table_

"It's good to have you home, Bella."

Charlie gave me an awkward hug, trying not to squish me where I stood with my crutches and my luggage. I hugged him back, sincerely glad to be in Forks.

I had managed to get by in school simply by avoiding any and all contact with Jasper. I tried not to be overly obvious about it, but when I started using his own evasiveness against him, he picked up on it. The last few days before I left for Forks, we had barely even nodded at each other when we passed in the hallways. In some ways it was nice, the pervy images were kept down to a bare minimum, and I could keep a conversation going without getting interrupted by some internal swoon-session. On the other hand, I missed talking to him; god in tights or not, he was still a nice guy, and part of me longed for the day when I could begin dancing again, because it meant he would be there to help me.

Charlie let go of me, and picked up my luggage, a small cabin bag stuffed with clothes, cooling gel, a couple of school books and other necessities.

"How was your flight?" Charlie asked, trying to make smalltalk.

"It was fine," I replied, mustering up a smile. "I got to board first, which really annoyed this one guy, and of course he had to be in the seat next to me, and he nagged and nagged and nagged, so finally I just told him to shut the f… to just shut up."

I managed to edit out the 'fuck' just in time. There was something about Charlie, I just couldn't curse around him. Maybe it was the fact that he was a cop, or just that he was my father, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure he would frown upon the language used in my conversations with Alice and Rose.

Alice, Rose and me had been among the last out of the dormatories, we all had afternoon flights, Alice and Rose to New York and me to Forks, so we took a cab to the airport. Alice promised to call, and Rose promised she'd try to call, but I got the impression that Thanksgiving at the (Haunted) Hale house was a tradition that wouldn't bend for a pesky phone call to just anybody. Rose had told me Jasper (who apparantly had taken an earlier flight, nice) had wished me Happy Thanksgiving, and I managed to tell Rose to give him my regards without acting like a complete moron.

Charlie nodded at my remark about the annoying guy on the plane, and we walked in silence to his cruiser, and drove under equal silence to Forks. That's Charlie for you, he could put a fucking mime out of business. He asked a couple of short questions about school and my foot, and I gave brief answers to those questions. Charlie's silence always somehow rubbed off on me.

We got to Forks in an hour, and I dragged myself up the stairs to my bedroom with Charlie following closely behind me. Once there, I slumped down on my bed.

"Do you need anything, Bells?" my dad asked me while he set down my luggage, looking warily at me where I lay.

"No, I'm fine, I just need to sleep. You can leave the bag there, I'll unpack tomorrow," I replied.

"Okay… You call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Ten-four, dad."

Charlie laughed a little. He liked cop-jokes, mainly because he was one. A cop, I mean, not a joke.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," he whispered and left, turning off the lights as he went.

I sighed, sitting up on my bed to undress. My foot was still a bit discolored, having changed from a scary blackish-purple to a sickening shade of something that looked the color of puke. The entire foot looked like something that was about to come off any second, and it was disgusting as fuck to look at. I jumped over to my dresser and pulled out two shirts and two pairs of pants, my "emergency clothes", and piled them up on the bed where my injured foot would be. Keeping it elevated was about the only new thing that doctor Fancyfuck (my lovely nickname for him, and boy, do I wish I had said it to his face) had said to me. The rest was basically a fancy rerun of what doctor Alistair had told me.

I removed the support cast and lay down on the bed, placing the foot on the pile of clothes. At the dorm, I had used a pillow, but I was in no mood to go pillow-hunting now, so it had to do for now. I tried wriggling my foot a bit, and it was still a bit painful, but nowhere near as bad as it had been. The pain slowly died away, and I drifted off to sleep.

Thanksgiving morning greeted me with a pleasant surprise: sunshine, a rarity in the otherwise gloomy Forks. The ambient light woke me from my sleep, and I felt giddy at the mere sight of the sun shining in through my window. I bounced out of bed feeling like Cinderella minus the cheeky birds, only to fall flat on my ass when my left foot refused to support me.

"Fuck!" I yelled loudly, massaging my aching foot.

"Bella?" Charlie called from downstairs. "You okay up there?"

"I'm fine, dad!" I called back, feeling no need to work him up into a state this early.

I dressed hurriedly, cussing under my breath at my short memory, then hopped down the stairs. Charlie had put a bowl of cereal and a bottle of milk on the table for me, and now sat on the couch with his morning coffee.

"Morning, dad," I greeted, pouring milk over my cereal.

"Morning, Bella. You slept okay?"

That was Charlie-code for "what the hell just happened upstairs?"

"Like a rock," I replied and tried not to scrunch up my face because of my throbbing foot.

Charlie chose not to pursue the matter, and drank his coffee quietly while checking the news. After I finished my breakfast, I began preparing the annual Thanksgiving pumpkin pie we always brought with us to the dinnerparty at the Clearwater's. I had a brief relapse into Jasper-mania while kneading the dough, which made me all red-faced. Charlie, of course, noticed and asked me if I was feeling okay, and when I didn't give him an answer (I was too busy fighting the images of me kneading something completely different) he came over and felt my forehead and said I might be coming down with a fever. That's when I snapped out of it, and hopped upstairs to the bathroom, where I almost drowned myself in icecold water to purge my mind. My dad gave me a strange look when I came down with water dripping from my face and hair, but he didn't say anything. I chewed my lip and silently counted to ten while kneading the dough some more.

At noon we packed everything in the cruiser, since Charlie had his doubts about taking the rusty Chevy truck he'd bought for me to drive in during my visits here. Between the truck that roared like it was in pain when someone was driving it, and father and daughter driving around in a police cruiser with a pumpkin pie, a can of cranberry sauce and a flowerbundle in the backseat, I think I would've preferred to walk.

We were the last ones to arrive, as usual. Harry and Billy, Jake's dad, sat out on the porch with a beer each, and they happily greeted us when we pulled up.

"How you doing, Bella? Charlie told us about your foot, is it bad?" Billy asked me, nodding to my foot.

"Oh, I'm not done dancing yet, Mr. Black," I replied politely, trying to sound chipper. I was about to face my worst Forks-nightmare inside.

Leah Clearwater.

If there was anything wrong with celebrating Thanksgiving here, it was that me and Leah had to spend an entire day under the same roof. She could be civilized if we crossed paths by accident, but her behaviour on Thanksgiving was always calculated, and she never let me forget just how much she didn't like the fact that I was friends with Jake, not to mention that we had the keychain thing going.

I would normally venture into the house on my own to give Sue Clearwater the pie, the sauce and the flowers, but since I literally had my hands full now, Charlie accompanied me inside. I spotted Leah's brother Seth by the tv, playing a videogame, and I also notice the closed door that led to Leah's room. Sue came rushing out of the kitchen, giving me a big, warm hug and told me the same things she tells me every year: how pretty I was and that it was nice to have me back.

"Charlie said you had a accident. How are you? What did the doctors say?"

"I've got a grade two sprained ancle, so I won't be dancing until after New Year," I replied automatically. It was getting boring to have to answer the same questions over and over.

"That's too bad, honey. But we're all rooting for you," Sue said, and patted my cheek and then took the pie, the sauce and the flowers from Charlie.

Everyone was rooting for me? I glanced back at Leah's closed door. _Not fucking likely_.

Charlie had already turned on his heel and gone out to hang with Billy and Harry, so I was left standing halfway into the kitchen looking like a lost puppy.

"Leah's on her room with Jake," Seth said, having spotted me looking all lost and pitiful.

"I could deduce as much," I replied, and hopped over to the tv-set. "What are you playing?"

"Deus Ex: Invisible War, pretty cool game. Gotta take my chance and play before dad, Billy and Charlie get all insane and start watching football."

"Not a fan of football, huh?" I said, smirking, because neither was I.

I sat watching Seth play until Sue called out that dinner was served. The men came shuffling in from the porch, while Jake and Leah (giving me an indifferent look) came sauntering out of the room. We got seated, and I was placed inbetween Charlie and Seth and opposite Leah, who I tried to ignore completely in kind. The grown-ups tried to make smalltalk while Sue placed the turkey on the table. Harry cut the turkey and we all toasted in applecider before digging in. Well, almost all digged. Leah freaking Clearwater only took a miniscule piece of turkey, a small scoop of mash and filled up the rest with cooked vegetables. No cranberry sauce, no gravy, no bread, no pie. I know as a ballerina I must watch my weight, but it's better to eat a lot and healthy than to resort to miniscule servings of whatever you get. I involuntary cocked my eyebrow at Leah's pitiful plate, and she responded by cocking a suggestive eyebrow at my plate of turkey, mash, cranberry sauce, pie and vegetables. She tried to make me feel guilty for eating more than her. I wouldn't budge to this fiend.

That's when she decided to really piss me off and go full on demon.

"So Bella," she began pleasantly, halfway into our so far successful dinner. "Who's this guy Jake's told me about?"

I could feel how the entire bloody room turned to stare at me, and Charlie especially was staring holes in my sides. At that moment, I didn't care that it was Thanksgiving and that I shouldn't curse, or that this was Charlie's friend's daughter and my friend's girlfriend. Right then I wanted to fucking kill Leah Fucking Clearwater for being such a royal bitch.

"What guy?" I asked through clenched teeth, looking at her in a way that any other girl would interpret to 'back off you conniving bitch'.

But Leah Fucking Clearwater just gave me an innocent smile, and nudged Jake playfully in the side.

"Oh, don't be shy, Jake told me he seemed real friendly, and I bet he looked nice. I've seen the boys that dance ballet, prancing around in tights…"

I could hear Charlie almost choke on his beer. This was getting to be too much for him, having to imagine his only daughter in the same school as testosterone-pumped teenage boys in tights. Now I really wanted to kill this bitch. Dismembering Jake for blabbing didn't feel that repulsive either. In fact, it started to look like a really good idea. I gave him a dark look before I answered:

"He's just a guy in some of my classes. I see him sometimes, since I live with his sister and cousin."

"And does he look nice?" Leah persisted, piercing me with her eyes.

"He's got a pair of eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth and five fingers on each hand, if that's what you mean," I told her sharply in a tone that clearly indicated the matter was closed for discussion.

Finally, that skank-ho-shewolf got the point and dropped the matter with a broad smile, giving her food (whatever food there was on her measly plate) her full attention. The others slowly returned to their food, steering the discussion away from anything that could be related to horny boys. Jake tried to silently apologize to me over the table. I violently speared my vegetables on my fork, while looking pointedly at him, and he gave up and began rapidly shoving food into his mouth. As soon as everyone had finished, and we took the usual break before dessert, I curtly excused myself as calmly as I could and walked out under the pretense of 'needing some air'.

There's a knobbly old fir tree by the road from which you turn onto the Clearwater's gravelly driveway, and I headed straight for this tree, sank down with my back against the trunk and pulled up my phone. In seconds, I had fired away a text to Alice, figuring it would be better to text her first to see if she could talk, rather than to call and possibly interrupt dinner. She called me back in five minutes.

"Hi, Bella, sorry it took me so long, but Eddie decided to be juvenile and keep my phone hostage."

"Eddie?" I asked confused, but then remembered Al had a brother, Edward.

"You remember him, right? Artsy musician with no respect for other people's belongings?" Alice said pointedly, the last part clearly aimed towards Edward, who I could only presume was somewhere nearby.

"You had me with 'artsy musician', but I repeat: Eddie?"

"Oh, he hates it with I call him Eddie. Sucker looks like he wants to motherfucking off me."

"Yeah, I know the feeling…" I mused grumpily, remembering the catty shewolf inside.

"What's up, Bella? Missing a certain someone?" Al teased me.

"This should not be construed as something it's not, but yeah, right now I kinda do."

"Aw… Tell Auntie Al what's wrong."

"Do you have any suggestions how I can get rid of a skanky shewolf bitch on Thanksgiving without anyone, and by anyone I mean her family, my dad the cop, and her boyfriend, who also happens to be my friend, noticing?"

"Wow… That's a tall order," Al remarked captiously. "And why is it you want this..?"

"Skanky shewolf bitch," I helpfully filled in.

"Right, why do you want her out of the way?"

"Because she is stepping on my very last nerve, seriously. Jake made the exceptionally bad mistake of telling the bitch about the time he came to visit, you know, when Jasper stopped talking to me, and of course she had to bring up Jasper at the dinner table right in front of my dad and his friends."

"She knows about Jasper?" Alice asked surprised.

"God knows how she knows, but she knows, and for that she is the Bitch with a capital B, and I want her head on a plate," I replied sourly.

"I can get with that. How fast do you need me to cough up a miracle?"

"Let's see… Dad, Billy and Harry are probably trying to conquer the tv to watch a game now, which gives Sue time to prepare dessert, so I'd say you have fifteen minutes, give or take five minutes depending on how long it takes to pry dad and his friends from the tv."

"Bella. I'm good. I'm brilliant. I can be a fucking mastermind," Alice began, and I knew she couldn't help me.

"Way to toot your own horn there, Al."

"Well, when no one else does it, I have to. Anyhow, you're in mother-freaking Forks, wherever the hell that is, and I'm way over here. The best I can give you is to wrestle the bitch and lock her in a closet."

"A shewolf in the closet? Yeah, real funny, Alice," I commented dryly, but couldn't help smile at the thought of locking Leah Fucking Clearwater in a closet.

Alice just wolf-howled at me through the phone, and gave a pealing laughter. Al said she'd try to call Rose, and I told her to say hi from me. We said goodbye, and I began hopping back toward the house, taking deep breaths to strengthen myself.

Inside, Charlie, Harry and Billy had taken up residence by the tv, and were hanging over the coffeetable, howling and groaning and cheering at the game they were watching. Sue was busy clearing the table and preparing for dessert, and had Seth to help her. Leah and Jake had disappeared into Leah's room, for which I was very thankful. I sat down on the couch next to Charlie, and tried to follow the game, which wasn't the easiest. I had yet to see the fascination in a pack of meaty machoguys in pads, wrestling for a ball. To me it looked like some social experiment, but I kept that opinion to myself. Seth didn't look like he was having the best of times either, but at least he tried to half-heartedly keep up with his father's shouts and yowls from the kitchen.

After the first quarter, Sue announced that dessert was served, to which the men responded that it could wait until the break after the second quarter. It was the same thing every year. Sue always wanted to serve dessert after the first quarter, which Harry, Billy and dad never agreed to at first, but after various threats most often involving throwing away perfectly good pie, they compromised and got to watch the first half of the second quarter.

Leah and Jake emerged just as Sue was about to kick open the door to Leah's room, and I had to restrain myself so as not to go right on ahead and royally kick Leah's sorry ass. She didn't even look at me, contrary to Jake who went for round two of trying to apologize silently to me. I was still in no mood to forgive him, and stabbed hard into the slice of pecan-cinnamon pie I had on my plate, and thankfully, Jake gave up again. Harry, Billy and dad were discussing the game, shoving in pie while anxiously glancing over at the tv. Sue looked like the cat that ate the canary, and I knew she would keep them at the table for as long as she could. She was also the only one who talked to me. Leah was ignoring me, Jake probably didn't dare talk to me, and Seth was suffering through football talk on his end. I don't know if Sue took pity on me (I fucking hope not), but she was a polite lady, and asked me some questions about school, about dancing, telling me stories from when I was little and used to visit during the summers, and how I tried to get Leah to learn ballet (as-fucking-if…).

Our little conversation was interrupted by my phone, blaring Avenged Sevefold's "Afterlife". Talk about embarrassing. Everyone stared at me (again), and I flushed tomato red as I excused myself to go answer the call outside.

"Hello?" I answered as soon as I was out the door. "Bella Swan speaking," I added just to be safe, since the caller-ID showed a number I didn't recognize.

There was a moment's silence and then an amused laugh.

"'Bella Swan speaking'?" Jasper repeated at the other end of the line.

"Jazz?"

I almost hissed the name, afraid that my own, personal You-Know-Fucking-Who would hear it.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Jasper said politely, and I stopped to collect myself mentally.

He couldn't be too peeved about my behaviour if he called me on Thanksgiving to wish me Happy Thanksgiving. That, or he was a very polite gentleman.

"You, too," I replied. "How's Rose?"

"On her room, poutin'. Mom an' dad tried to set her up with the son of one of dad's associates."

"They did not!"

"Oh, yes. You can imagine Rose's reaction. She was seconds away from givin' everyone at the table a piece of her curseword-laced mind," Jasper almost chuckled.

"Oh, god, please tell me she didn't…" I sighed, rubbing my forehead. This could not have gone over well with Rose.

"She had the good taste to realize she was mostly angry with our parents an' insulted by their stunt, so she spared them from humiliation an' excused herself with a migraine."

"Well, that's… good."

Fuck, what is this? I am so lame I would have to bang my head against a wall!

"So, how're you?" Jasper continued. "Alice said you were having…"

"Alice said?" I echoed. "Alice told you to call me?"

Fucking Al, I hated when she took matters into her own hands.

"No, no, she called us five minutes ago, an' told us you called. She said that you seemed to have a pretty crabby Thanksgivin'," Jasper explained calmly. "I jus' thought I'd call an' see how you were doin'."

"That's sweet," I said, and mentally exhaled. "And it's not been all sunshine and rainbows so far."

"What's so bad?"

"I have the Bitch of bitches sitting right across from me at the table giving me a hard fucking time," I told him exasperated, then adding in a mutter: "God, I wish I could shove a pie in her face…"

"Then do it. Pie her in the face," Jasper suggested, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"You make it sound so easy," I rebutted.

"An' it isn't?"

"Not with my dad and the Bitch's family and boyfriend sitting at the same table."

"Ah. I see. Well, you can always do what Rose did…"

"And walk home from the Quileute reservation to Forks? I don't think so."

"You're celebratin' Thanksgiving on an indian reservation?" Jasper asked, sounding more surprised than necessary.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it's ironic, moving on…"

"Okay. So, I'm guessin' the distance between the reservation an' Forks is too far to walk on Thanksgiving," Jasper commented, and I found myself amazed I had managed to talk to him this long without going five kinds of crazy.

"It is…"

I was about to tell him about the time when I was eight, and got mad at Jake for whatever reason, and decided to walk home from the rez (I apparantly didn't factor in that while it may take less than an hour to drive to the reservation, it would take much, much longer to walk all the way home), when Leah stuck out her head through the front door.

"Bella," she said in her sugary sweet 'come and kill me if you dare'-voice. "We're waiting for you inside."

I gave her a curt nod, and expected that slinky worm to slither back inside, but she didn't move.

"I gotta go," I told Jasper, careful not to say his name, since that would be like handing over a gun to Leah and just hope like fuck she wouldn't use it against me.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Jasper asked, and of course, the images had to kick in now. There was a pretty sweaty one of Jasper in flesh-colored tights dancing very, very close to me, that got my heart racing.

"Not really, but they're waiting for me inside."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you back in school, then."

"Yeah, I guess," I replied tersely.

"Goodbye, Bella," he said in that husky voice that got me all weak at the knees.

"Bye," I said hastily, and hung up on him.

"Who was that?" Leah asked snippily when I began hopping towards her.

"My roomie," I replied equally snippy.

"Alice?"

"No, Rose, and how the fuck do you know Alice's name?"

"Jake," she replied simply.

"Leah… Stay the fuck out of my life," I told her sternly, and I hoped like hell that my crutches, combined with the fury my eyes (hopefully) reflected, would get her to back the fuck off.

"Fine." Leah shrugged her shoulders, seemingly unfazed. Then she added, coolly: "If you stay the fuck out of mine."

There were no further "incidents" between Leah and me during the rest of the day. She kept to herself, Jake by her side like a loyal puppy. I stayed away from Leah, talking to Sue and Seth, occasionally saying something to Charlie if he asked anything. When we finally left in the evening, I was so happy we were going home.

"Bella…" Charlie interrupted my internal happy dance.

Uh-oh… That tone never meant good news.

"Yes, dad?" I replied politely.

"Is… Is there… a boy? You know, someone I should know about?" Charlie asked, and I could see how hard it was for him to ask me.

"No!" I all but exclaimed. "No, dad. There is no boy. Leah just misunderstood Jake, who misunderstood the whole thing about ballroom dancing."

"Oh… Okay…"

"Dad, really, relax. There is no boy, and with my luck, there won't be one either."

It was true, in a manner of speaking. Jasper was not a boy, he was a fucking god, and I actually let myself bask in the dirty images that were playing in my head, as a sort of reward for surviving Thanksgiving with Leah Fucking Clearwater. Bella one, Insipid Shewolf Bitch zero.

When we got home, I put the leftover pie in the fridge, said goodnight to Charlie and hopped up the stairs, humming to myself. If I could manage not to make an ass out of myself for three more days, then I could return to the Volturi Academy. Then, there was only the matter of waiting for my foot to heal, and I could dance again. I quickly prepared for bed, then crept under the covers, blissfully closing my eyes, hoping for good dreams.

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**A/N**: Not much ballet here, but with Bella on crutches, there wasn't a lot I could do. I hope I got Thanksgiving down, since we don't celebrate it here in Finland. Oh, and Deus Ex: Invisible War is a real game, a pretty good one too. Even I, who is more or less (computer)game-illiterate learned how to play that game like a pro.

Reviews make me put tights-y goodness into chapters!


	14. Chapter 13: Color Me Speechless

**A/N**: Thank you for your reviews, you all rock my world with the kind and supporting things you send my way. I've been a little tardy, but I'm blaming that on the job I had up until last Monday. Seriously. Worst. Summer job. Ever. Eclipse and the mental image of Jasper in tights were true life savers.

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I made them dance ballet.

* * *

_13. Color Me Speechless_

"That will be all for today, Miss Swan."

It was my first visit to the physiotherapist, and I already hated her guts. I wished I could stab her to death with my crutch and fucking get away with it.

My "case" had been completely hijacked by the Volturi Academy, who had handed it over to doctor Fancy Fuck, who had referred me to Maria, the physiotherapist from Hell, and the only one in her line of specialty working at the same clinic as Doctor Fancy Fuck. Within ten minutes of my first meeting her, I wondered if she maybe knew Jane and Alec from the pit. She was the most condecending person I had ever met, and that included Leah, who in comparison had nothing on this bitch. It wasn't that Maria could be sued for malpractice, she did her job fine, I'm pretty sure that she had graduated top of her class. Her problem was that she lacked any form of pleasant bedside manners. Because I was a top priority patient (I could not help but notice the big, fat fucking plaque with the Volturi Academy insignia on the wall listing all the clinic's benefactors when I walked in), she had to do her best for me, as in making me and my foot happy. But in her mind, she didn't have to be nice to me. I have no idea why she was being such a bitch to me, maybe in a prior life a Caius Giuliano-type had told her that if she ever turned up on any ballet stage, he'd rip her to shreds. The bright side of this was that I at least got rid of the bulky support cast in favor of a lighter ancle brace. Plus, with Maria acting like such a bitch for basically no reason at all, I was pretty certain I had done nothing wrong.

I had been back at the Academy for a week now, feeling moderately rested and relaxed. Al was a squealing package of joy, and Rose tried to sound chipper, but I could only guess that the row I'd heard about at the Hale's Thanksgiving dinner hadn't been the end of it all. I had seen Jasper round the dormitories, and though we weren't exactly speaking to each other (more because by some asinine reason or other, it would be awkward than because we were fighting), he always gave me a polite nod and soft smile that I would shamelessly swoon over during the day.

"Here are a few training exercises I want you to do," Maria continued brusquely. "Follow the instructions on the can borrow a resistance band from my office, but remember to bring it back to every meeting." She pulled out a so-called resistance band from a drawer and handed it to me. "In a few weeks we'll add some light weight belts to build up strength to some of these exercises. Any questions?"

Wow, she was really trying to get rid of me as fast as possible. She looked so poisonous and evil where she stood, pale, dark haired with dark brown eyes. I half expected her to sprout fangs at any second, so I bit my tongue and refrained from asking her to bite me.

"No, I'm fine," I said, faking my happy voice just as much as Doctor Bitch faked her interest in me.

"I'm sure you are," she replied snidely.

Without goodbyes, I pulled on my coat, took my things and left the clinic. I hailed a cab, and thought about going for a private spin, since the Volturi Academy paid for my taxi rides to and from the clinic. As much as it tempted me, I was more anxious to get back to the dorms and possibly see Jasper before getting to my room. My brain filter problems had calmed down, and I could at least choose when I conjured up Jasper in tights and nothing else, though it was getting harder and harder to get the picture right. The proportions and structure of his lanky, gorgeous body began to fade out, the finer details disappearing. I hadn't seen Jasper in tights since… I wanted to say 'forever', but that word is so redundant and overly dramatic. Needless to say, it had been a fucking long time since I had seen Jasper in basically nothing at all, and everything (shortness of breath, inability to carry on an intelligent conversation in his presence, obsessant behavior) it entailed.

The cabbie pulled up next to the Academy, and I wobbled out of the cab, payed the driver (and made damn sure I got a receit) and hopped up the stairs that lead to campus. It was getting chillier, and you could almost feel snow in the air. I sort of wished it would snow before I left for the Christmas holidays and Arizona. I hadn't seen snow in forever, last time was years back when I was celebrating Thanksgiving with Charlie, and it had started to rain and snow when we drove back from the Clearwater's.

As per the agreement with the almighty directors, I would sit in on certain classes. I had dragged out on this for as long as I could, because while it was a great idea when I first came up with it, the thought of letting multiple classes full of students watch me as sat in a corner with my crutches and my fucking doom-and-gloom look plastered on my face was more than a little appalling. However, getting the directors on my ass about not keeping promises was even more appalling, so today I would sit in on Aro Vincenza's ballroom dancing class, which began in ten minutes. I hastily dropped off my stuff at the dorm, then wobbled as hopped as I could to the classroom. I would still be using the crutches this week, but after that I'd have to make due with just the ancle brace and whatever balance was left in me.

I hopped through the door less than a minute before Mr. Vincenza walked in.

"Miss Swan, how nice of you to join us. I hope you are doing well?" he greeted me cheerfully, as if I wasn't a cripple who didn't know if she would ever become a top class ballerina.

"Yes, Mr. Vincenza, I'm fine," I replied automatically, because I figured that's what he expected of me.

"Splendid! Well, then, take a seat and we'll start the class."

I couldn't see a chair anywhere, so I slid down against the wall, and put away my crutches so they wouldn't be in the way. I spotted Jasper at the front, and he turned and gave me a wave, a smile and a polite nod. I waved back and felt like I was back to being fucking fourteen and pathetic as hell. Really, I should just bang my head to the wall and beat the pathetic out of me.

I never got around to going all violent on my ass, because I got too busy with frowning at Jasper and his dance partner. Since the class was originally made up of even numbers, and everyone else had stuck with the dancepartner they had picked during our first class, Jasper had no other choice than to dance with Renata, Mr. Vincenza's aide. She did not dance poorly, in fact, they moved across the floor fluently. Renata's way of looking at Jasper just made me want to crawl out of my skin and go hide somewhere. It was too much fucking gooey-gooey-lovey-lovey for my taste. Or just the fact that I should be the one doing the fucking gooey-gooey-eyes.

Since my injury, the class has moved on to tango, a dance I could've killed to dance with Jasper for. Tango is fiery and passionate, and while I'm sitting on the floor with a mending ancle, Jasper is tangoing around the room with gooey-eyed Renata. Or perhaps not that much gooey-eyes. I don't know her well enough to be able to tell if she's just acting out the dance, but she looks like she wants to have Jasper for dinner, in a twisted, turned-on way, and I have to watch it. I could focus on any of the other couples, but the sad truth is that while my classmates may rock the ballet scene, some of them seriously lack ballroom dancing skills. I grind down on my teeth, and watch Jasper and Renata dance, with director Vincenza fluttering round the room like an oversized butterfly on acid. I hate my foot.

"Bella?"

I look up, and Jasper's towering over me, looking all glorious and fucking hot. Apparantly, I zoned out towards the end, and have been sitting staring into nothing for the past fifteen minutes or so.

"Hmm?"

"You okay?" Jasper asked me, helping me up from the floor.

"It's fine…" I replied, gladly accepting his help because it gives me a good excuse to be near him.

"No, you ain't. You're thinkin' about somethin'."

I want to be a bitch, and piss and moan about Renata, but that could seriously fuck shit up between me and Jasper again, and I don't want that, seeing as it last time ended with me injuring my foot.

"I miss dancing," I said, sighing. It's true. I miss dancing. With Jasper.

"You'll be up an' twirlin' soon enough, Bella. Rose told me you can ditch the crutches next week."

I mumbled something about that being great, before I shuffle off, leaving Jasper behind me. I had English next, my last class for the day, and I zoned out as soon as our teacher began droning. I answered questions, I filled out exercises, I read silently, I picked out a novel to read and analyze (Toni Morrison's _Beloved_) and I could honestly not have cared less.

I dragged myself back to the dorm, dumped my bag of books by the door and hopped into my room. No one else was home, surprise surprise. Rosalie had classes, Alice was… wherever she was. She was still sneaking away, coming in late, never telling us where she's been. She said it was nothing, and neither Rose, nor I believed her for a second. The point of sneaking away is because there's a "nothing" that clearly is a "something". Fuck it, it wasn't my business, anyway.

I tried to look at the exercises Maria gave me, tried to do some of them with the damn resistance band, but I give up after five repetitions. The only thing I could think about is how abnormally much this sucked. I couldn't dance, and how would I ever be able to dance when I had to worry about spraining my ancle again? How the fuck did I ever let Rose and Alice and Jasper talk me into believing I could ever get back on top again. My ancle had all of a sudden become a fucking liability, I couldn't trust it anymore, I couldn't even trust myself with any form of movement that could be ever so slightly dangerous. I wanted to kick the walls, but that could only injure me even more, so I settled for throwing the resistance band around. The sound it made was nowhere near as satisfying as that of a foot hitting a wall, but it had to do. Shit, that was my future, right there. Settling for less, making do with things below my potential. Nice; jaded and whiny soon-to-be-has-been, party of one.

I collapsed on my bed, tired of everything, even pining for Jasper and filling my head with disturbingly hot images of him, which I never thought I would actually get tired from (merely insane). The only bright side of this was that the Hell Twins were off my back. They still hadn't said a peep about my absense from classes or my injury. I saw them every now and then in the corridors, last time yesterday, and all I got was smiles and semi-condescending looks, which I could take, because it was definitely better than them opening their sulfurous mouths. Maybe they were so shocked I was more or less out of the game that they had lost their ability to deliver stinging remarks?

I never got to think further about that, because someone knocked on the door to the dorm.

"Who is it?" I yelled loudly, figuring that it couldn't be Rose or Alice, since they had keys.

There was a muffled sound, but I couldn't make anything out of it. I got out of bed, took my crutches and made for the door. Never in my life had I wanted a peep hole on a door more than I did now. I wasn't in the best of moods, and I had a feeling this was getting to be one of those days I shouldn't spend among people. I counted silently to ten before I opened.

"Oh, so somethin' is alive in there," Jasper beamed widely when the door swung open.

Here's a fucking pickle. I'm having an asocial fucking day, and who comes knocking on my door if not Prince Fucking Charming? Do I:

a) go all fire and brimstone on him and then shut the door in his face?

or

b) flip my asocialty the bird and talk to Prince Charming?

Like that was even a hard choice.

"I was sort of asleep," I lied, and tried to look all muchy and newly woken up.

"Oh… I could come back later…" Jasper apologized (shit, is he really that gullible or just playing along?)

"No, it's fine," I hurriedly interrupted him. No way I'm going back to the self-destructing whirlpool of 'I Suck'.

"You sure?"

I nodded fervently. As if I would let him go now. Tired of pining for Jasper? Who the fuck was I trying to kid, really?

"You seemed so down after class, I thought maybe we could do somethin'?"

"Do something?"

Do something. Do something. Do him. Fuck, perv-brain is back, with a vengeance.

"It's a surprise," he smiled, and stepped out of my way.

I didn't have much choice but to follow him. I'm a sucker for surprises and when they're brought to me by a hot guy, who am I to turn the surprise down? I grabbed my keys and we headed off, with me trying not to blurt out or do something extremely inappropriate. We exited the dormatories, and headed into the main building, and I was bemused, because I couldn't think of anything fun, sexy or entertaining that two people could do in the main building. You can imagine my surprise when I realized he had led me to the small studio where I had first seen him, and though that memory was a very pleasant one; a delightful diorama of Jasper, ballet, tights and Clair de Lune, I was a bit disappointed. It was a studio, a ballet studio, a place of dance, and I couldn't dance.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, trying to hold back most of the disappointment.

And like this was right out of some cheesy High School-fucking-Musical, Jasper started singing. He hadn't the best singing voice I had heard, and his Southern drawl found its way into the lyrics, but I soon recognised the song as being Foo Fighter's _Best of You_.

"You're serenading me, Jasper?" I inquired amusedly, and he cocked his head to the side, skipping ahead in the song.

"Has someone taken your faith / It's real, the pain you feel / The life, the love / You'd die to heal."

"I still don't see the relevance of you singing Foo Fighters to me in a ballet studio, Jasper," I interrupted him.

That was a lie. I was getting really good at lying. I had an inkling about where this was going, but much like that dude in _Valentine's Day_, I had no idea what to do with it, except in my case, deny it.

"You are so full of shit, Bella," Jasper told me, a tone of amusement in his voice.

"Sounds like me," I quipped, raising an eyebrow.

"You need to get it in your head that you will dance again."

"You keep telling me that."

"Jus' because you can' dance at the moment, it doesn' mean you have to be all doom an' gloom an' lock yourself away," Jasper continued, and I noted that when he got excited like this, his Southern accent got much thicker.

"Still doesn't explain why we're here," I shrugged, and tried to ignore his almighty wisdom, because I was such a stubborn twerp.

"Isn' this where you first saw me?"

How did he know that? He shouldn't fucking know that! God, did he know I stood here, mentally stuttering over his butt while admiring his taste in music? Forget trying to hide the disappointment, now I just wanted to bolt out of here.

Jasper obviously noted my surely flabbergasted expression and smiled.

"Rose an' I talked during Thanksgiving, about her year, and I asked how come you an' I began meetin' and stuff, an' she told me you had seen me in here dancing to _Clair de Lune_, and Rose had then identified me an' told you that my turnout sucked like… very hard."

"That sounds about right," I answered spasmodically, swallowing hard. My fangirlish reaction to him should come up any second now.

"I thought that you an' I could hang out here. You know, talk, not talk, improve my turnout, whatever you feel like. I've got this place for an hour, an' I've got music an' a stack of cards if you feel like not talkin' an' play cards instead," he explained, tripping over some of the words.

I had to say, I was a bit touched by this. And thankful for the fact that my fangirlish behaviour still was a well-kept secret. It's not what I expected, but if it was, I wouldn't be so touched by the gesture. Plus, if Jasper would be helping me when my ancle's all better and shit, I could at least try to help him.

"Fine, Jasper, show me the legendary turnout," I said with a sly smile.

The smile I got in return was triumphant, and what he did next almost knocked me over like an invisible sledgehammer to the head. He was dressed casually in a black t-shirt and pair of black sweats, which he unceremoniously pulled down, standing in front of me in a t-shirt and the tightest tights I had ever seen, at least this close.

Holy. Fuck.

I thought that the Jasper I had seen back when the semester started was a thing of utter beauty and perfection, but that was nothing compared to standing this close to him, seeing him like this. This was fucking perfection, I'm telling you. The tights clung snugly to his lower body, showing strong thighs, well defined calves, and when he turned around to go over to the barre, I wanted to hoot and throw up a sign with a ten on it, because his ass was absolutely gorgeous. I should've brought duct tape so someone could've taped me to the wall, because I now feared I would throw away my crutches and attack him like I was a tiger and he was a defenseless, yummy gazelle.

Jasper warmed up, and my brain kicked into overdrive, flooding with steamy images (most of them with Jasper wearing… well… less than tights) and ways to keep me from giving into my desires and carry out the brain numbing fantasies that made up the images. The air was getting heavier and heavier with each deliciously slow demi plié he did, and I felt myself getting hotter and hotter, not to talk about the other reactions my body threw at me. I was pretty sure that by the time Jasper had finished warming up, he'd have to wipe me up from the floor with a rag.

Unfortunately, not even my highly excited (which I think is a nice, grownup word for horny as fuck) state could get past the fact that Jasper's turnout actually was bad, as in "Caius Giuliano would probably scoff so hard his tongue would loosen in the process"-bad. I pried my brain away from Jasper's butt, and began focusing on his feet. It wasn't easy, I mean, any other day, my brain would've kicked me out, and lived happily ever after processing the images of Jasper fuck-hot ass for all of eternity. But seeing as I was basically here per Jasper's request (which didn't involve ogling his good as far as I knew), I instead kicked my brain into gear, and focused on the technique.

"Has your turnout always sucked this much?" I asked frankly after a little while.

"Up until a year ago I was doin' fine," Jasper replied, leaning back against the barre.

"And what? The fairy turnout-godmother skipped out on you?" I joked, giving him a smile I hoped was playful and alluring.

"You mean there is such a thing?"

Jasper was playing along, and we joked around about fairy turnout-godmothers, plié-fairies and ballet boogeymen for a while. I also warned him that I was no expert on turnouts, but no one had complained thus far, and we got to work. I shuffled over to him, sitting by his feet, moving them over and over again as he shifted back into the fucked up turnout that he had been doing for a whole fucking year. I pondered whether I should sit down on his left foot, and make him move his right foot into proper position and make him stand there 'til his body adjusted to the proper turnout. I scratched that, because it would most likely mean I'd have to sit on his foot for a long, long time. People have needs, and I wouldn't be surprised if sitting on someone's foot is considered a felony in some far away, obscure country.

Almost two hours later, of which we spent one hour playing gin rummy (because we sort of fixed Jasper's turnout after about an hour), we said goodbye by a corner in the dormatories. I don't think he quite understood just how much he'd done for me tonight, just by letting me be near ballet again (and for getting to ogle his butt and kick his ass at gin rummy). I stumbled back to the dorm after saying goodbye with the silliest fucking grin on my face, ready to just fall into bed and drem salaciously dirty dreams about my tightsy ballet Adonis.

Those plans were scratched as soon as I walked through the door. At first, I thought no one was home, it was so quiet, but then I noticed her. Alice was sitting on the couch, legs pulled up against her body, a look of sorrow and hopelessness in her eyes.

"Alice?" I asked carefully, closing the door quietly behind me.

She looked up, her face blank except the eyes.

"Hi, Bella," she replied timidly, which was so not like the Alice I had moved in with in September. "I didn't hear you."

"Are you okay, Al? You look a bit…"

"I know."

She shrugged her shoulders, looking down at the floor. I went over to her and sat down beside her.

"Alice, what happened?"

She glanced over at me, hesistating, weighing her options in her head before biting down on her lower lip.

"I… I found my mother."

"Your mother? As in your..?" I asked, but of course I already knew the answer.

"As in my biological mother, yes," Al confirmed, still sounding so timid.

"That's why you've been AWOL lately."

She nodded.

"Wow… This… this must be great. When did you find out?"

"Today."

"You must be extatic."

I was fishing for a reaction, anything that would wipe away the pressing silence and the awkward atmosphere. But Alice simply shook her head, her eyes etched to the floor again.

"It's not good?" I question, almost desperate by now. "Didn't she want to talk to you? Holy fuck, Alice, is she dead?"

At the word 'dead', she finally woke up, and her face was taken over by sadness, spreading from the eyes. Oh man… This could not be good.

"She's alive," Alice relented.

"But she doesn't want to see you?" I guessed, and immediately heard just how fucking insensitive that sounded.

"She can't see me, Bella."

"Why?" I kept back the 'is she blind' question, because I didn't want to act like a complete idiot.

"My mom's in a mental hospital," Alice replied, and a single tear trickled down her cheek.

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**A/N**: Very dramatic, yes? Tights, gin rummy and major revelations in one neat package. Tell me what you thought!


	15. Chapter 14: Blues for Ballerinas

**A/N**: Thank you for your reviews, they send me through the roof. I know some of you may have been worried that this story is dead since it's been some time since I last updated. Well, life (although I consistently doubt that I have one) interferes, but have no fear. PB is very much alive, and I intend to keep it that way! Enjoy chapter 14!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. I play evil ringleader and make them dance.

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_14. Blues for Ballerinas_

_Previously on _Prima Bellarina_…_

_"My mom's in a mental hospital," Alice replied, and a single tear trickled down her cheek._

A bomb might has well gone off in the room. I could almost feel it falling right on my fucking head. I thought I was the kind of person who always knew what to do in almost every situation. Having your friend tell you something grim about their past was apparantly one of those things I my brain couldn't process correctly. I stood like a moron for several seconds too long before I could move, speak or even function like a normal human being.

"Does… Does Rose know?"

Even my first question showed what complete fucking idiot I was. "That's not the first thing you say, Bella!" I chided myself. I shook my head.

"Alice, I'm so sorry…" I said softly, hoping it would rectify my fucked-up first line.

I limped over to her and sat down next to her on the couch. She didn't cry, didn't look like she had cried. Maybe she was in shock? What were you supposed to do with people who are in shock? Renee had once dragged me to a First Aid-course, and there they had taught us how to deal with people in shock, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do. Great. Maybe I was the one in shock.

"Rose doesn't know. She came home ten minutes ago and left just as fast. Probably going to Emmett's," Alice mumbled, her gaze once again nailed to the floor.

"And she didn't say anything?" I asked incredulously. That did not sound like Rosalie.

"She didn't know I was home. I had just returned from the adoption agency, hadn't been home for more than five minutes when I heard someone turn the key. I figured it was Rose, since Jasper had texted me, and probably Rose too, about having a cheer-up-session for you."

"He texted you about that?"

"He's sweet, but not so sure about grand gestures. Did you have fun?"

"That's not relevant now, Al."

"It is relevant," she said, a bit more forcefully. "But… I guess it can wait until the world realigns and things aren't fucked up to the ninth dimension."

I smiled a little, and took it as a good sign that even now, even with this piece of horrible news thrown at her, Al could still show a bit of sass.

"So…" she continued, taking a deep breath. "Since I figured it was Rose, I hid in your bedroom. I closed the door just as Rose opened the front door. I couldn't move, I was so sure I'd make a noise or that if I sat down I would unleash the Flood and start bawling my guts out. Rose left pretty quickly. I imagine she'll stay the night at Emmett's. So I came out, and thought that it's fine, you know? I'm alone, I feel like shit, my world has unhinged itself and my mom is a crazy person. I told myself it was okay to cry, and…"

"And what?" I asked carefully.

Alice looked up and straight at me. Her eyes were back to looking as dead as her voice had sounded when I came in.

"Nothing. There is nothing! I can't cry. She…She isn't my mom anymore, and I thought she was dead."

"Why did they tell you she was dead?" I asked, curious about that part of Alice's story myself.

"It was a fuck-up, all of it. I was five, my sister, you know I had a sister? She was fourteen. Mom had gotten pregnant with her at a young age, I don't know if it was voluntary or not, but there were the three of us living in Biloxi. No dad. I don't remember much, nothing until a day when I was five when our neighbour, a sweet old lady from across the street, came in and said our mom had died. We had no next of kin. Father unknown, grandparents dead or unknown… We were put in the system, and we were supposed to get adopted together, but things didn't turn out that way."

"But why? Wouldn't you have known that lady lied to you? I mean, if she were dead, there would've been a funeral."

"I was five, hardly a good age for a kid to go to a funeral. My sister… I don't know if she clued it out, she was fourteen after all…" Alice shrugged her shoulder.

"Okay, but why the lie?"

"My mom was sick, she had…" Alice stopped, having to start over. "She has schizoaffective disorder. It started out slow, but it got worse with time, and the neighbours saw it. From what I've heard she was aware of sometimes, and she went along with the suggestion to be committed. She asked that my sister and I be adopted, because she was unfit. She apparantly harassed the adoption people until they agreed to let her sign a release form that would prevent us from getting to know who our biological mother was, even though Cynthia was fourteen and I was five. The agency talked with our neighbours, and I don't know how, but the old lady has said she'd explain everything to us, that it would be easiest to hear it from her. When the agency came to pick us up, they didn't ask anything. They thought we knew our mother was a nutjob."

"Oh, man… That is fucked up."

"They're supposed to keep siblings together. I was five, so we were put in fostercare together. That was a complete bust. Cynthia, that's my sister's name, apparantly ran away after less than a year. I don't blame her. She saw a way out and she took it. I stayed until I was seven and the Cullens adopted me," Alice concluded, and her face minutely lit up at the mentioning of the Cullens adopting her.

"How did you get past the seal that was on the records?"

"Sweet talk," Alice replied with a snort. "And a lot of research. The seal was lifted because it was not called for. Apparantly another fuck-up. They never meant to seal it, but sealed it anyway, and there was a whole lot of blamegame going on there for a while about whose fault it was. Like I cared."

"So… Can you see her?" I asked guardedly.

"I told you I can't."

"Why? She's alive."

Al sighed, rubbing her temples.

"I called the institution, and told them about myself, about my mom. I could tell they didn't believe me, because they said they would 'get back to me'. I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear from them again, but three days later they called me back. According to her records, my mom doesn't have any kids, but one of the nurses had heard mom asking where her baby girls were. She hadn't made much of it, apparantly my mom is pretty good at imagining things."

"She doesn't remember you?" I said. At that moment I felt so bad for ever thinking anything condescending about Renee. I felt sad for Alice, and wondered if this was ever going to end, or if this was some sort of rabbit hole where you just keep falling.

"The nurse speculated that…" Al's voice got strained. Yeah. This was a hard part. Another one. "She thought that in sealing our adoption records, mom sealed us away in her mind, until she had convinced herself that she didn't have two daughters, that we were just part of her imagination."

"Al, I'm so sorry…" I hugged her, pulling her closer, because that was what I would've liked someone to do if this had been me. Petite little Al didn't fight it, and let my pull her into the best bear hug I could manage.

It felt like a small victory to hear her sniffle, her breath picking up in an effort to keep up with the feelings pouring out of her. It's not like I'm an insensitivt fucker who likes to watch people cry, but this is definitely a situation where you should cry. Hell, you should cry and yell and curse the devil and his grandma for whatever happened to you. Alice's sniffles soon turned into shivering sobs, and I cradled us on the couch, not saying anything. It was best to just let it come.

"How… how could she just forget us?" Alice sobbed quietly against my shirt.

"I don't know, Al… She thought she did the right thing."

"Yeah, well, that worked out fucking perfectly! She thinks I'm a hallucination, how the hell do you prove that wrong?"

"I didn't mean she did the right thing, she… just thought that it was best for you, or something."

"I hate her," Alice whimpered.

"No, you don't," I told her soothingly.

"I hate her."

"Alice, you don't hate her."

"She willed us away from her mind, and I ended up losing both her and Cynthia. How can I not hate her for that?" she demanded, her voice shaky from crying.

"I can't even begin to speculate what was going on in your mom's mind when she willed you away, but she tried to look after your best interests. You lost your sister because she split and left you alone. Yes, it may have been because your mother gave you away in the first place, but you could've easily been adopted together had she not left on her own accord."

"I hate you for being so clearheaded, Bella, you know that?" Al told me bitterly, but I could pick up the teasing undertone. I smiled.

"You can hate my stroke of luck-clearheadedness anytime you want, Alice. Come on. Call Rose and have her give Emmett the blue balls-treatment, and I'll call for a pizza or five. If you want, we can even evict Jasper, Felix and Peter and commandeer their tv-set so we can watch _La vie en rose_ and cry some more."

We let go of the grip we had on each other, Alice wiping her tears away, nodding and looking at me. I had never seen anything so frail and hurt in my entire life.

"That sounds… fine," Alice said, and pulling out her phone to call Rose. "You think we… could order from… that new place?"

We had accumulated a fair share of take away menus over the months, even though we had never really ordered anything (either because we never had time or because we joked about how we would gain ten pounds just by calling). A week ago, Al had picked up a new take away menu from a pizza place god knows where. She had taken it home from one of her mysterious absences, which I now knew were visits to the adoption agency. I nodded, and went over to the little box on the small coffeetable under the bulletin board and searched until I found the right menu. I checked the pizzas as I dialed the number.

"Hi. I'd like to order one large Mr. East-pizza and…" I browsed through the menu. This place had the strangest pizzas I'd ever seen. They even had a dessert pizza. "…one Alexandra and one dessert pizza." I couldn't resist ordering the last two, the toppings just sounded so incredibly outrageous they had to be tasted. "Exactly. The Volturi Academy… Good. Just tell the deliveryboy I'll be waiting outside the gates. Great, thanks."

When I hung up, Al came out from hers and Rose's room, looking a bit relieved.

"Rose is on her way home." Al and chuckled. "She actually gave Emmett a sermon when he whined something about her cockblocking him, which was so absurd to hear now."

"You want me to call Jasper and have him and the boys evacuate the room?" I asked, smiling at her.

"You don't have Jazz's phone number. And what would you say? 'Hi, Jasper, I need your room to watch a French movie with Alice and Rose because Alice's homelife before age seven sucked balls?"

"If you think it will work," I quipped.

"I'll give you his number, but do you think you could leave out my homelife before age seven?"

"Consider it done." I tried to sound cocky, but the truth was I had no idea how I would convince Jazz to convince Peter and Felix that they needed to relinquish the room to us for this one night.

Alice handed me her phone, and it took me some time to find him, since Al had saved him and just about every other person under the most cryptic name. I noted she had my number saved under "Bellarina", which was fairly easy to clue out, but Jasper was harder to find. I was about to ask her, when I found someone by the name of "Dancing Gem". It was by far the most likely candidate, and I dialled the number and pushed the call-button, hoping like hell that it would be Jasper answering.

"Hello? Jasper Hale speakin'."

Bingo. Goodness me, he sounded just as yummy over the phone as he did when he talked to you eye to eye.

"Jasper, it's Bella."

"Bella? How..?" he asked a bit surprised.

"Alice," I interrupted him. I needed to stay on topic, and any further talk on his part, and I would be lost to swoon-land. "Listen, I need a favor."

"Sure, what kind of favor?"

"The 'no questions asked, I will owe you big time for the rest of the year'-kind of favor," I said, biting my lip in anticipation.

"O…kay. What do you need?" he said guardedly. "Is it illegal?"

"I, well, we need your room. Not your room, but the room with your tv-set. No, you can't hide in your rooms, we need the entire pad."

"So you really need our entire dorm room?"

"Well, we really only need the tv-set, but I'm guessing Peter won't let it leave the dorm, and we don't want you there when we're there. It's nothing personal, we just… need it."

"That's a pretty tall order," Jasper said hesitantly. "I mean, you could probably get my room if you could stand the mess, but lendin' out the entire pad… In case you missed it, I live with some pretty territorial guys."

"Work your magic, anything!" I begged him whiningly, trying to sound all girly and flirty. "Jasper, I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important, but it is."

"So important you can' tell me what it is?"

"I didn't set the rules, I just follow them. Look, we'll save you guys pizza. I can divulge as much. Please, please, please?"

"Bella…"

"With cherry and non-screwed up turnouts on top?"

He chuckled on the other end, making me smile as well, and feeling all gooey on the inside.

"Well, since you put it that way…"

"Is that a yes?"

"I'll give it a try. For pizza and good turnouts."

"How long you think it will take you?"

"I'll text you. This better be a life or death situation, or I will not hear the end of how I lent out our pad so you girls could watch some sleazy movie an' braid each others' hair."

"I promise. It's a life or death situation. With pizza."

"The things I do for pizza…" he sighed. "I'll text you in a while."

"Thank you!" I said joyously, turning to give Alice a thumbs up..

I hung up, and Alice was on me immediately.

"We can have their room? As in actually have their room without them in it?"

"He said he would try, in exchange for pizza."

"You promised him pizza?" Alice asked, eyes wide. "Girl, you got it bad!"

"Oh, shush… You go find _La vie en rose_, I'll get the pizza, then we'll wait for Rose," I said encouragingly.

"What if Felix and Peter won't give up the room?"

"Are you kidding me? If they don't, Rose and me will invade and wreak havoc until they leave. Possibly with the thought of never ever returning."

Alice smiled. "Thank you, Bella. Really."

"You'd do the same for me," I replied, taking my wallet and hopped out to get the pizzas.

* * *

**A/N**: I have no experience with adoptions, so much of the stuff concerning adoption in this chapter is based on research I've made by googling Mississippi state's pages. I'm pretty sure that some of what I've written about the topic is completely whacked, but I tried my best to make it "real".

The pizzas mentioned in this chapter exist at a restaurant about 37 miles south of Vasa here in Finland. The Mr. East pizza has ham, chicken, pineapple, onion and bearnaise sauce on it, Alexandra has bacon, pear, blue cheese and crushed gingerbread on it and the dessert pizza has honey, cheese, chocolate, nuts, blackberries and pear on it. I've tasted the Mr. East-pizza, and it's delicious. I can't vouch for the Alexandra- and dessertpizza. They just sound shady.

_La vie en rose_ is one of my favorite movies. It's maybe not the most tearjerking movie out there, but I cried like a baby when Piaf (Marion Cotillard, who didn't do her own singing in this movie, though she is a good singer imo) sung "Non, je ne regrette rien" in the end.


	16. Chapter 15: It's Only In Your Dreams

**A/N**: I'm so, so sorry for having kept you waiting for this update. I came down with a vicious cold, and was in no shape to write. I threw in some Jasper/Bella interaction in this one to make it up to you, so enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer is the genius behind Twilight. I only put them in ballet school.

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_Chapter 15: It's Only In Your Dreams_

"Bella, you promised us pizza."

Jasper was looking distrustfully at the box of pizza I had handed him.

"It is pizza," I replied innocently, keeping in my laughter, because Jasper's face was priceless.

The cry-fest had been a success as far as crying was concerned. I was fairly certain we had caused water damage to the boys' dorm. We bawled like babies, chugging down pizza slices in between the fits of tears, and it felt uncharacterstically good to just let the fucking Flood loose. Unfortunately, we also got over the crying part towards the end of _La vie en rose_, at which time Rose and Alice tag-teamed and unleashed the fucking Inquisition Revisited on me, wanting me to give them a play by play of my session with Jasper. In my defense, I tried to stop them, I really did. This was not what I had coaxed the room from the boys for. We were here to cry, eat pizza and cuss at Life's general cockblocking. But, I figured Alice wanted to think of something else for a change, and who was there for her to interrogate if not me?

I downplayed the entire thing about me drooling over Jasper in tights, they so did not need that mental picture in their heads. In fact, I downplayed the whole thing, going all evasive on them after five minutes. They wouldn't have that. They threatened me with various things, including the dessert pizza, which had turned out to taste like… something I'd never in my life eat again. Since the deal for the room was that the boys get pizza, we unanimously decided that they would get the dessert pizza.

"This… is not pizza. You seriously think Peter an' Felix will accept this?" Jasper whined, scrunching up his nose.

I had texted Jasper ten minutes ago that we were ready to give the boys their room back. Alice and Rose had ducked out at soon as Jasper had entered the room. It seemed Peter and Felix had sent Jasper to check if the estrogen-levels in the room were within acceptable parameters, or whatever the fuck Jasper had said when he had entered the room.

"That's entirely your fault, cowboy," I laughed. "You never said it had to be a certain kind of pizza."

"They will kill me, you know that right?"

"Careful Jasper, you might just give your sister a run for her money on this years Drama Queen Award."

"Bella! I'm serious!"

"Oh, please, just look at this like… widening your culinary horizons." I winked, and my inner skidded to a stop. I winked at him? Who was this, and what had this devilish being done with the usual, semi-awkward, silently swooning Bella?

"Fancying shit up will not convince 'em. They will hamstring me. Possibly smother me with this excuse of a pizza," Jasper said seriously, piercing me with his teal blue eyes.

I had to laugh, because no matter how hot and sexified Jasper looked, the mental image of him getting smothered by a pizza was beyond ridiculous. Jasper, unfortunately, did not appreciate my laughing at his impending death-by-pizza, and stood glowering at me, irately tapping his foot. Had I not been injured, there's no knowing if he might have tackled me and whopped the shit out of me.

"It's not funny, Bella…" he said between clenched teeth.

"Oh, come on!" I hissed between fits of laughter. "Death by pizza! Oh, God, I can see your tombstone. 'Here lies Jasper, he was smothered by a pizza'. Oh, God! Rest… in… pizza!"

He only grunted angrily in response, took the box of pizza from my outstreched hand, and put it in the fridge, slamming it shut with a loud wham. I held back most of the guffaws, trying to be serious.

"Any last wishes before you face the wrath of Peter and Felix?" I asked as soberly as I could.

I expected a quick answer, something ironical or ballsy, or maybe just a defeated "can you leave now?". But he said nothing. He just stood there by the fridge, eyeing me, and I had a hard time trying to figure out if I liked having him scan me like that, or if I should feel uncomfortable and squirmy. I mean, he looked at me, not just glancing at me, but really fucking looked at me, taking in my appearance. The room was absolutely quiet, and just like when he'd guided me through the pliés here months ago, there was electricity in the air, crackling between us.

Okay, cue awkwardness here.

Whatever fascination there had been over Jasper looking at me, it was now flushed away in favor of major awkwardness. My entire body seemed to be smoldering under his intent gaze, burning hotter in some parts of my body, and I just hoped like hell it didn't show. I could feel my cheeks growing hotter, the blush spreading over my face, and I struggled to keep it under whatever control I could muster up.

He finally moved, walking slowly towards me, never breaking eyecontact. It was as if he was emitting some kind of forcefield, the kind that makes reality blurred and your body feel like it's made out of Jell-o. The electricity crackled, growing in intensity, and when he finally stood before me, the room was so filled with emotions and expectations that you could practically cut the atmosphere in here with a knife. He slowly raised his hand, caressing the line of my jaw with his index finger, and I actually flinched. His touch was like a raging fire, traveling through my body before settling in my stomach, radiating its tantalizing heat downwards.

I wanted to say something, but anything I could've come up with would've turned into a meek stutter. I felt dizzy, as if I would lose my balance any second and crash to the floor in a heap of goo and crutches. His eyes caught mine and I felt lost, like I had been playing that stupid game where you're supposed run to a stick, put your head against it and run around it ten or fifteen times and then try to run back to starting position without falling over. I closed my eyes, enhancing the feeling being caught in a neverending spin. He was still caressing my jaw with his finger, and it felt… heavenly. Screw all of the short-term boyfriends I had had back in Phoenix, and their so-called romantic gestures of flowers and chocolates. They got fucking pwned by a simple touch of a finger from a guy that wasn't even my boyfriend.

Despite the satisfying daze I was in, I still felt awkward, and part of me was actually scared of what would happen next. I could feel Jasper's breath so close to me, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me. Did I want him to kiss me? What would happen if he did? Would the world as I knew if end? Would I fuck this moment over by doing something infinitely moronic?

"Bella…" Jasper breathed, his voice deliciously soft, and I staggered.

"I… I…" I began, stuttering just as I had predicted.

He leaned in closer, resting his face against mine. I could feel the minute movements of his body; his shallow breaths, sweet against my face, an almost undetectable sway from side to side, his pulse beating rhytmically through his skin. I didn't know what to do, and really, was there anything I could do? I was positive that if I let go of one of the crutches to touch him, I would most definitely fall over backwards. Granted, if I fell, Jasper would fall and, more importantly, land on top of me. That would be… No, I decided. If shit got all horizontal, it would not end well. The crutches were the only thing that kept me standing, and they would keep me that way.

The rattling sound of keys getting turned in the front door effectively broke the spell. The electricity dissapated, my body turned cold in no time at all. But Jasper stayed where he was, leaned against me. I carefully moved to step away from him with surprising difficulty. Now that I had to get away, it was suddenly not that tempting anymore. Having him close was… soothing in some twisted way.

"I… should go," I stuttered, almost bouncing away from him.

He sighed defeatedly, and looked up at me.

"Please, Bella…" he pleaded quietly. "Stay and be my good luck charm?" He nodded towards the fridge.

I quickly glanced over to the door and back at Jasper, torn between wanting to stay and needing to leave.

"They will kill me," he reminded me with a lopsided grin.

My smile was more of an automatic response than an actual smile. Felix and Peter ultimately made the choice for me, by entering the room, booming with laughter. I couldn't be here, I had to get away.

"Bella!" Felix boomed when he caught sight of me. Jasper turned around, and very stealthily moved a bit farther from me. I don't think anyone but me noticed.

"Hi, guys," I greeted them neutrally.

"So…" Peter began, looking at me and Jasper with a suspicious look.

"I was just leaving," I replied quickly, before Peter could say anything else. "Thanks for letting us borrow your pad."

I hastily jumped out of the room, fleeing through the corridors with the sound of Jasper's pulse still echoing in my ears. I wandered around the dorms quite a bit, trying to calm the fuck down, or else Rose and Alice were bound to know that shit had happened after they left. I wouldn't be able to explain that to them without acting like a fool, and they would draw their own flawed conclusions, and life as I knew it would go up in flames. I mean, what the fuck had happened? I had asked him, jokingly, if he had any last wishes and he got all steamy and sexified on me?

When I was sure I wouldn't give myself away, I stumbled back to my room, giving Rose and Alice some lame-ass excuse about my foot aching like a motherfucker. I hurried into my room and crashed on my bed, immediately beginning to disect the Jasper-situation even more. Was it some sort of sign? Was he messing with my mind? Nothing stood out, and I found myself paying less and less attention to the questions and more attention to the memories. His finger, supple against my face, creating a sparkling sensation in me. His body, so close to mine, and I already knew just how glorious it was. My body remembered it exactly, and I was soon as riled up as I had been when it happened.

I took a shower in an attempt to wash all the funny feelings away, but no matter how hard I scrubbed my body with the loofa, the warmth that radiated from my stomach would not go away. I cussed under my breath, and gave up on trying to futily wash the feeling away. I limped back into my room and dressed, spending the rest of the evening going through the excercises Maria had presecribed. It didn't take away the fuzzy feeling, but it gave me something else to think about, like how much I hated doing the damn exercises. Nevertheless, I kept on stretching and twisting, casting longing glances towards my pointe shoes that now hung on the wardrobe door knob. I could not give up, not when those pretty, shiny babies were waiting for me to get back in the game. I couldn't abandon them, they were barely broken in…

"You okay, Bells?"

I looked up and saw Rose stand in the doorway, looking at me.

"I'm bored," I replied, and returned to looking at my pointe shoes.

"I'll say… At least you seem motivated to get better." There was no mistaking the teasing tone in her voice.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Cheer up-session with Jasper? Ring a bell?"

I scowled at her, halting my movements.

"Oh, please, Bella, get over yourself. You like Jazz, what's the fucking big deal?"

"Because I don't like him the way you think I like him," I lied, and the hot-bed in my stomach blazed even hotter.

"I see Denial is a huge river in Bella-land," Rose commented dryly, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I see Delusion is a pretty big one in Rose-land," I quipped back, resuming the exercise.

"What are you so afraid of? That he won't like you? That he won't be as wonderful as you think he is now? That if shit hits the fan you'll crash and burn?"

"One, I'm not afraid. Two, I don't care if he likes me or not, because I don't like him… Not like him-like him. He's an okay guy to hang around. Three, with you brother, I'm pretty sure what you see is what you get. Four, I won't crash and burn, because there won't be any shit to hit any kind of fan."

"You're ridiculous, you know that? You two behave like you're in junior high and you keep calling each other only to hang up when the other answers," Rose complained gruffly.

"No, you're ridiculous, Rose! I appreciate that he wants to cheer me up because I'm indisposed as far as dancing is concerned, hell, I appreciate that all of you want to help me catch up, but there is nothing going on."

"Your words say no, but the way you're deflecting says yes…"

"So I'm supposed to sit here and pine and wine about just how gorgeous he is, and OMG, I wish he'd ask me out and wow, I bet he's a good kisser." I made my voice high-pitched just to clearly mark I was being ironic. Or at least lying about being ironic. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to bed."

Rose glanced over towards my night stand, where my alarm clock was.

"You're going to bed? At 9 p.m on a Friday night?" She looked disbelievingly at me.

"Yes," I replied curtly, slowly getting up from the floor.

Rose threw up her hands, and walked away with a muffled "Fine". I closed the door, huffing quietly. I changed to my PJ's, snuck out of my room to brush my teeth and wash my face before sneaking back. I checked the calendar. Jake would send me the lucky key chain next week. Fuck knows I needed it. I wondered if he'd be terribly opposed if I called him now and begged on my knees for him to send it over, stat. Then again, he had never told me what happened after that little visit earlier this semester, and if Leah gave him shit during and after Thanksgiving. Maybe he needed the key chain as much as I did.

I called Renee, try8ing to stall the inevitable. She was glad, as always, to hear from me, and prattled on for a good twenty minutes about the movie they had seen tonight, her newest culinary experiment (key word here being experiment), and Phil's job. It still felt a bit weird to hear her talk about Phil and his job, seeing as Phil was a whole lot younger than her and played minor league baseball for a living. She asked me what I was up to, and I lied, saying I would go watch a movie with my roomies. No need for Renee to know that I was borderline miserable. We said goodbye, and I promised to call her soon again. My room was uncomfortably quiet once my phone conversation with Renee was over. No way I was gonna be able to sleep in this silence. I plugged in my mp3-player, crawled in under the cover and closed my eyes.

My dreams were disturbing. Disturbing and arousing. They were fuzzy, steamy, and I couldn't see everything clearly, though I still knew exactly what was going on. I was dancing with Jasper, fluttering around him en pointe, dressed in a tantalizingly sheer piece of fabric. My breaths were shallow, and everytime we touched (and it was a lot), I could feel that conspicuous electricity between us. It started out slow, the fire in us smoldering carefully, building up in intensity. We danced, we touched, we played, teasingly moving in circles around each other. Then there was more. More touch, more skin, more heat, more passion. As far as I could tell, there was no music, but we seemed to dance along to something, some unheard music that played in time with our racing hearts. I wanted… needed to be closer to him, and him to me. We grinded, weaving our limbs together, as the unheard symphony neared its crescendo. I could feel Jasper through the thin fabric that barely covered me, and I wanted to be even closer, I needed the fabric gone. His breath was so hot against me, and my pulse picked up as I felt him press himself harder against me. I gasped, and as if he knew, he pressed again, a wicked smile playing on his lips. One… two… three more pleasurable thrusts, and I fell over the edge.

_Literally._

I woke up, panting, on the floor, tangled in my cover. I glanced over at my alarm clock. Two am. I then clamped my hands across my mouth, trying to keep down my heavy breathing, because in the quiet room, it seemed loud. The warm feeling in my stomach was ever-present, but now it was different. It seemingly undulated through my body in rhytmic waves, like… like…

My breath hitched, and my eyes flew open wide. Wow. My steamy Jasper-dream had made me come in my sleep.

"Shit…" I said, though it came out more like a sigh. This was so fucked up.

"Bella..?"

It was Alice, knocking on the door.

"Yes?"

The door opened slowly, and Alice peeked in, closely followed by Rosalie.

"We heard something, and… what are you doing on the floor?"

I thanked God that the room was dusky, otherwise they might have noticed something else besides me being on the floor. I tend to… blush, quite profusely, when I get off.

"I… rolled out of bed in my sleep. I'm fine," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You're sure?" Rose asked, looking around the room, I don't know what for.

"Yes, I'm good. Just need to climb back into bed, it's nothing to worry about." My voice faltered ever so slightly, and I prayed to God they wouldn't notice.

"Are you out of breath, Bella?" Alice inquired, and I wanted to die.

"Bad dream," I replied perfunctorily.

"Oooh… Someone got lucky," Rose teased, her eyes glinting in the dark.

"Rose!" I hissed. I shouldn't have, because both Rose and Alice took this as an affirmative.

"Was it good?" Alice asked suggestively.

"I bet it was…" Rose filled in quickly, continuing in a thick southern accent: "I bet someone we all know an' love made Bella real happy…"

"Shut up!" I pulled out my arms from the tangled cover, and grabbed the nearest thing I could find, which happened to be my clothes, and threw it at them.

They laughed heartily, fleeing my feeble attacks in fits of giggles. I flushed even redder, and untangled the rest of my body from my cover, climbing back into bed. I found my mp3-player jammed under my pillow, and put it on my nightstand. Best not to listen to music again, if that was the trigger. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes again.

The dream didn't return. Not fully at least. It was all fogs and whispers, impressions and bits of sound. I knew that somewhere beyond the haze was the fiery dream from before, but I couldn't push through. Part of me was glad that it was beyond my reach, but another part of me longed for it. I tossed and turned the rest of the night.

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**A/N**: So..? I gave you some steam. Was it good steam, bad steam? Review and let me know, pretty please!


	17. Chapter 16: 'Tis the Season?

**A/N**: Hey again! I'm back, and it feels good! School shanghaied me, and let me tell you: Russian is one strange, strange language. There was one afternoon when I could feel my brain having a meltdown because it didn't get the Cyrillic alphabet. Luckily, my brain lived through it, and after some recuperation (read: watching Glee) I could sit down and get chapter 16 written. I'm glad ya'll liked the steam from last chapter. I enjoyed it, too. Thoroughly. Hope you enjoy chapter 16 just as much!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer (genius!) owns Twilight. I just made them twirl around in tights and tutus.

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_16. 'Tis the season..?_

I barely had the balls to look either Rose or Alice in the eye the next morning. Nevertheless, they tried to embarrass me by hinting about my "lucky night", and I just wanted to fucking die. I counted the days on my calendar, finding some comfort in the fact that it would soon be Christmas. For a few minutes it all felt okay, and I could ignore the improper slurs. Then I realized I hadn't gone Christmas shopping yet, and it was the same story every year. I could easily find something for Renee and Phil, and finding something for Jacob wasn't too hard either (one Christmas he was came close offering me eternal servitude when I gave him a six month's subscription to Car & Driver). But every year I all but broke down in a hissy fit trying to find something for Charlie. I couldn't buy him anymore fishing lures, he had a freaking box full of them, and the box was a birthday present from two years ago.

Thus, I spent an entire week freaking out about what to buy Charlie. I found a gift for Renee and Phil on my first day, and one for Jacob the day after. But Charlie's present wasn't easy. "The tradition continues..." I sourly thought to myself as I now hopped down the streets heading for the mall. It was my last chance to get my Christmas shopping done. I would go home tomorrow, three days early. The directors had asked me to come by their office the day before yesterday, asking how my recuperation was proceeding.

"Fine, thank you," I had answered, focusing my gaze on Aro Vincenza, because he scared me the least.

"Splendid! We have talked to Maria, and she is confident that you, given that you stick with your exercise regimen, should be able to begin training again when you return from winter break," Mr. Vincenza replied, sounding as though this was the best news he'd had all year.

I tried to ignore the fact that they had kept tabs on me by means of Maria. My relationship with her had remained chilly, despite me trying my best not to blow my fuses with her snide behavior and obvious superiority-complex.

"I'm glad to hear that," I therefore answered, mustering up a smile that I hoped didn't come off as fake as it was.

"Speaking of winter break, we wanted to tell you that you may start yours a bit earlier. The last three days are mainly for exams as well as rehearsing and performing the winter recital. Since you have passed all your exams you don't have to stay until the end. You are, of course, welcome to stay if you'd like."

Ugh, the winter recital. The juniors and seniors and a few of the sophomores would perform in a recital on the last day before winter break. The Hell Twins were in it, of course, and Rose had been offered a part, but had to turn them down because she had been lagging behind on her academic studies. She had a few exams to do before winter break, and she later told me Mr and Mrs Hale were coming up to see the recital with her and Jasper, even if they weren't in it. I hadn't even told Renee and Charlie. What was the point? I wouldn't be in it, no need for them to drive here just to see some recital.

I had thanked the three directors, and left their office. I knew I should've been over the moon about getting to start winter break a few days earlier than everybody else, but I just couldn't muster up the glee.

"Bella?"

I skidded to a stop, and slowly turned around, hoping my hearing was screwed up. It wasn't. Behind me, Jasper came jogging, waving happily at me. I forced a smile, and gave him a little wave. I hadn't really met up with Jasper after the awkward moment and the subsequent steamy dream. I wished I wasn't such a coward, otherwise I would've asked what the hell that stunt back at his dorm had been. And then the dream... I flushed tomato red just thinking about it. It hadn't been all that lewd, but the sensations had been overwhelming.

"I see you survived," I noted when Jasper stopped in front of me, smiling widely.

"Barely. There were multiple threats, but I think they're just generally pissed that we didn't negotiate the terms better," he quipped with a laugh. "So, you out Christmas shopping?"

"I'm just about to fucking off myself." I began hopping down the street again, and he followed me. "It's the same thing every year, I can't find anything to buy for my dad."

"Really? Maybe I can help you with that?"

I looked at him, trying to assess whether or not this was a bad idea or a really fucked up idea. He didn't seem like he would pull another stunt with me, but then again Jasper's moodswings were very whiplash-y, so who knew if and when he would do something that would completely take my by surprise?

"I'm warning you, he's a hard man to shop for," I warned Jasper, deciding that even though there was the obvious risk of something happening that would plunge my head into the gutter, Jasper seemed fairly... normal, and come on, Christmas shopping was very innocent.

"Is he picky?" Jasper guessed.

"Not at all. He's all but picky. He always says he's happy with whatever I get him, which doesn't really make things easier. He likes fishing, but I've already gotten every kind of fishing lure there is, plus a box to put them in, not that I understand why they would need a box, but I got him one anyway. He's a cop, and I don't know if that's good or bad when it comes to shopping for gifts, but so far it hasn't been any help at all."

I babbled rapidly, and I could feel the anxiety rising in me. I hadn't spent Christmas with Charlie since I was 7 or 8. Ever since then we had had a standing deal about me spending Thanksgiving and summer vacation with him, and Christmas and New Years with Renee. Not spending Christmas with Charlie just made me feel like I should get him a gift that made up for the fact that I wasn't there in person. The only comfort was that the Blacks and Clearwaters always invited him up to La Push, so at least he wouldn't sit home alone, starving to death.

"Does he read?" Jasper asked me, and I turned my attention back to the present.

"Not that I can say."

"He's a cop, so he's got a gun, right..?"

"No. I'm not going near anything that's got anything to do with guns," I protested, and Jasper cocked his eyebrow. "Trust me, when you've got a cop for a dad, you quickly get a sort of aversion towards guns. He used to remove the bullets from his gun when I was younger, and hide them. Everything about that makes me think I'll never go near a gun."

"Okay, so basically we've got... nothin' to go on here," Jasper ascertained, sounding slightly irritated.

"I told you..."

"I say we start with the bigger department stores, see if we can't find something there. Whenever I'm out hunting for gifts, I never find one, but the minute I stop looking for it, I usually all but stumble over it."

I should've just abandoned the whole thing right there. Really, Charlie always said he was happy with whatever I got him, and so far that had worked out well. He always called me on Christmas Day to thank me for my gift, and I would thank him for whatever he had gotten me, and we'd talk a little about how Christmas had been so far. It was nice, and I should've continued the tradition, even if it meant that I'd be spazzing out like the fucking present-freak I was.

But Jasper's smile was genuine, and when he held out his hand, however futile that gesture was, I found myself taking point, determinedly steering towards the department store closest to us. My brain had been hijacked again, and frankly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do anything about it. Jasper snickered as he caught up with me.

As much as I tried to take Jasper's advice and not look for anything specific, there was nothing that struck me as the perfect gift for Charlie. Jasper presented me with several alternatives that may have been the perfect gift for anyone else's dad, but I just wrinkled my nose and shook my head.

"So, shouldn't you be in class, or something?" I asked him, as we exited Macy's.

"Maybe I should..." he replied with a wicked smile.

"You're skipping school?"

"I think occasionally skippin' school is good for you. Plus, mom and dad are comin' over for a visit today. I need time to properly brace myself."

"Oh... I thought they were coming for the recital."

"I know. They called yesterday and said they're coming down early. I don't know why really, it's not like they're combining the recital with shopping for Christmas presents. They're very firm believers in New York as the ultimate shopping mekka."

"You think something has happened?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. They wouldn't give any specifics when Rose an' me asked why."

"Sounds mysterious."

"A bit too mysterious, if you ask me."

We continued in silence. Jasper dragged around the entire shopping district, but Charlie's present was as elusive as ever. Somewhere after Nordstrom's I pretty much gave up on finding the perfect present, and just tagged along as Jasper finished up his shopping. Somehow, my present-agony had inspired him to get a couple of more gifts, mainly for his sister and his grandma. He even found a present for Emmett. I tried not to be impressed or jealous with the fact that Jasper didn't have an issue with the price tags. It wasn't that I was poor, I mean, Renee and Charlie had clearly enough money to afford my tuition, to which I contributed as best I could. If I needed anything, I could probably buy it, if I saved a little at first. But I won't lie, I wished I could just wave a loaded credit card and buy all those things Renee and Charlie might have had to give up on so that I could be where I was now.

After Nordstrom's, we doubled back, lunching at a café opposite Macy's. Jasper wanted to go back to get something he had seen there, but my stomach wanted food before we went for round two with the large department store.

"So, are you going to spend Christmas with your dad?" Jasper asked, taking a bite off his club sandwich. "Is that why you're so spazzed out about the gift?"

"No. I'm spending winter break with my mom and her new husband in Florida."

"Oh, okay..."

"It's probably stupid, but I want this present to be perfect so it will make up for the fact that I won't be with Charlie on Christmas," I mumbled, picking at my tuna salad, spearing a piece of egg with my fork.

"It's not stupid. It's sweet," Jasper affirmed, his voice caring and warm.

"He's pretty much alone up there. He's got a couple of friends in town, and he always spends Christmas down on the indian reservation with friend of the family. I used to celebrate Christmas there when I was younger, but it was a pain to plan the flights, so we agreed that Renee, my mom, would get Christmas and New Years, and Charlie'd get Thanksgiving and summer vacation."

"How old were you..?"

"Five," I quickly replied. "I'm fine, though. I was so young, I have very fuzzy memories of Renee and Charlie and me being one happy family. They're on friendly terms, so it's not like I'm stuck in between them. It could've been worse. Renee always worries when I go to visit Charlie, but she always worries. You should've seen her when I moved over here. I was half-expecting her to let Phil go back to Florida alone just so she could camp out on campus and check in on me. Not that I need checking up on. Charlie wasn't all that worried. He was more 'where's my little girl gone'."

"My dad wasn't all too happy when I began dancin', but he's learned to accept it," Jasper told me. "He actually sounds a bit proud now when he tells people his son is off to become a professional ballet dancer."

"Ah, so he's one of those dads who thinks it's okay for girls to dance ballet, but not for boys?"

"No, he's got no problem with boys dancin', he just had his hopes up for me. He was hopin' he could get me interested in investment banking. That's his job, working at a bank."

"Not you're thing?" I guessed.

"I was never really good with numbers."

"Neither was I."

From this, we segued into talking about our high schools, and I laughed at Jasper as he recanted how he'd snuffed a bunch of guys who picked on him for dancing ballet ("In five years, I'll be dancin' on stage with another girl, who will be wearing almost as little as I am. What will you be doing?"), and I told him about the time Jake, Embry and Quil had had their little recital for me, and I bitterly regretted not having a camera close. I got asked lots of questions about Renee and Charlie, and I reluctanctly answered all his questions, wondering if I didn't bore him. I didn't ask anything too particular about his family since it seemed to be sort of a sore subject when it came to Rose and Emmett. Again I wanted to ask what the deal with Rose and Emmett was, but I just could get the words out of me.

We finished eating, and Jasper dragged me back into Macy's, and we criss crossed through the aisles, until Jasper suddenly stopped right in the middle of an aisle. I looked around, but couldn't find anything that I thought was worth going back specifically to Macy's for. I looked back to Jasper, and he had a knowing smile on his lips, and something in me silently cursed, and I got the feeling that I had been lured back to this specific spot.

"You sneaky little fucker..." I hissed. "You conned me back here, God knows why."

And the smile on his gorgeous face only became wide as he looked up, my eyes following his. My heart came to a full halt, then began thundering at an unprecedented pace. Fucking Jasper, fucking sneaky ballet-fucking-dancer.

"Misteltoe," he simply said, and I wanted to run away.

But my feet were glued to the floor. In fact, my entire body seemed frozen, as I looked up at Jasper and the little branch of motherfucking irony. I should have said no when he asked if he could help me look for a gift for Charlie. But what had I done? I had said yes, and this was destiny coming to bite me in the ass. My brain shut down as Jasper's face came closer and closer to mine, and I could swear my entire body rebooted when his soft lips touched mine. There was absolutely nothing and everything for three seconds. My lips were stiff and unresponsive for about half a second before they pouted to meet the gentle, persisting pressure of his. The rowdy noises of the people around us faded into the background, and I could hear my pulse racing.

It was three seconds of nirvana. And then it ended. Jasper's lips left mine, and though this was fucked up beyond reason, I wanted more. Flashes from my steamy dream rushed through my head and I had to look down so he wouldn't see me blushing.

"I definitely like mistletoes," Jasper suddenly said in a hushed voice.

"Mm-hmm," I hummed, still looking down, fighting to get the blushing under control.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just... wow. No, I don't know. I think I'm fine, I should be fine, right? I'm just having extreme problems with self-control here." Nice Bella, go off on another rambling-trip won't you? You've only been kissed by a hot guy who occasionally struts his stuff in tights. Get a grip for fuck's sake!

"Not used to mistletoes, are you?"

"Bad high school experiences," I replied tersely, forcing down the blush bit by bit. "Getting chased through the corridors by crazy boys making kissy-noises is not flattering on any level." Yeah, and I'm still reeling from a sexified dream about you. No sweat. I'm fine. Fucking not.

Jasper only laughed at me, and led me out. I made a mental note about not believe squat that came out of his mouth anymore. We began heading back towards the Volturi Academy, still without a present for Charlie. I was focused on getting back to the dorm without any further incidents, but Jasper had his mind on other things.

"Hey, why don't you get your dad one of those?" he suddenly said.

I stopped, and looked at him. He was pointing towards a window for one of those photo labs, where there was a bunch of stuff you could put your photo on: coffee mugs, t-shirts, jigsaw puzzles and so on. But Jasper was pointing at a calendar, with photos for each month.

"You've got photos of your dad an' yourself, right?"

I nodded silently, looking intently at the calendar. It was a simple gift, but it was a gift that maybe would make him feel like I was there even when I wasn't there. I mentally broswed through the collection of photos on my computer, already picking out the pictures I wanted to put in the calendar.

"Hello, Bella?"

"What?" I said, pulled back to reality.

"I said: 'I take your silence as proof that you've found your dad a gift'," Jasper repeated.

"Yeah, I think I have. Thanks."

"You know, you don't have to go to this exact place. You can get a pretty good bargain online, too. I bet you can get it giftwrapped an' everything an' sent directly to your dad."

"Thanks Jasper. Really. Now I can milk this concept for another five Christmases and at least three birthdays," I said teasingly.

"You are shameless."

We continued back towards school, and though we soon fell back into comfortable conversation, my inner was a complete chaos from the Kiss. Part of me dissected the kiss second for second, while another part of me just rolled on a mental floor shrieking "Fuck fuck fuck!" and damning myself to the sevent circle of Hades for letting myself get dragged into this. I wanted it, sure. I wanted this, and so much more, and I feared the day where I would attack him and molest him and he'd disappear forever.

We took a short trip by Jasper's dorm, leaving his newly bought gifts there, and he then followed me back to my dorm. I swiftly unlocked the door and we stepped in. Alice and Rose were sitting on the couch, Alice soothingly holding Rose in her arms. Rose had her face buried against Alice, but there was no mistaking the tremors in her body. She was crying. Jasper froze for a second, and in no time at all he was by his sister's side, putting his arms around her, comforting her in hushed words that I couldn't make out. I was still standing in the doorway, looking at the scene before me with absolutely no idea what this could be about.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, stepping inside and swiftly closing the door.

There was a beat of silence. Then Alice spoke:

"Rose got pulled from school," she replied quietly.

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**A/N**: *gasp* Review pretty please!


	18. Chapter 17: A Rose By Any Other Name

**A/N**: New chapter, wohoo! I've had this written out for a long time, and I still managed to drag out on updating. You can all sue my coming Master's thesis for the delay, it takes up a ridiculous amount of space in my brain. Anyhoo, enjoy chapter 17. AliceFangirl22twane – I'll try to reintroduce the dancing element ASAP. The plan is to get Bella back to dancing after her Christmas break, which should be soon if I have anything to say about it.

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer is the genius behind Twilight. I just make them dance and trip and fall in love.

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_17. A Rose by Any Other Name_

Previously on Prima Bellarina:

_"Wh-what happened?" I asked, stepping inside and swiftly closing the door._

_There was a beat of silence. Then Alice spoke:_

_"Rose got pulled from school," she replied quietly._

"She what?"

"Her Mom and Dad found out about her and Emmett's plan to elope for Christmas, so they pulled both of them from school," Alice explained bitterly, stroking Rose's head.

"You too?" I looked at Jasper, feeling my heart sink. My life support… gone.

"My guess is that Mom has the insane idea that with me here, Rose could communicate with Emmett despite getting her phone- an' computer priviliges withdrawn, which I'm assuming they are."

"It's…"

"Fucked up," Alice finished for me. "And it's not gonna happen. I'll chain Rose to a fucking lamp post if I have to!"

I wanted to ask Jasper "What about you?", but it didn't feel right. Rose was the one losing everything. Still, Jazz seemed to read me like an open book.

"Don't worry, I'll tell them to kiss my ass an' butt the hell out of my life," he smirked. "Unfortunately, Rose can' do the same. The Hale-family has very strict traditions when it comes to daughters. They're more or less bound to the family until they… marry."

"No offense, but your family suck…" I murmured, sitting down on the floor by Rose's feet, hugging her knees.

"I'm sorry…" Rose whispered, and snaked her way out of the couch. "I… I need to go call Em."

With that, she snuck into her room, quietly closing the door, no tantrum, no sermons, nothing. We all sat more or less petrified.

Alice was the first to hit reality, giving the pillows a piece of her mind.

"You know, I do like Aunt Zoe, she is my only aunt, but this is so ludicrous it's retarded! We're living in the fucking 21st century, check the calendar! Shit! I'm so glad Esme's not like her sister."

"She's exceptional, Aunt Esme, I can give you that," Jasper countered. "But she never had the same problem. First of all, she was not a Hale by birth, which is sort of a startin' bonus. Second, even if she was, she married one of the top doctors in the country. The Hales would've loved that."

"You talk about your family as if you're not part of it," I pointed out, sitting down in Rose's empty seat, leaning into Jasper's shoulder.

"I do love my family, but to do this to Rose… It's unacceptable. I've never seen my sister so completely defeated."

"Is there something we can do?" I wondered, worrying about Rosalie ending up with some no-brain fuckwuss.

"Fight for her. It's not like Rose to just give up. She needs us, all of us."

"Team Rosie'n'Em. and operation 'Stick It Up Your Butts, Hale Parents'!" Alice exclaimed, pumping her fist triumphantly in the air. Jasper gave her a confunded look.

"Stick it up your butt, Hale parents?" he quoted questioningly.

"Oh, you think there's something already in there? We could always try to pull it out, they must have one humongous stick already lodged in there. Either way works for me."

The door to Rosalie and Alice's room opened, and Rose emerged, carrying a bag.

"You okay?" Jasper asked, looking worriedly at his sister.

"Yeah," she sniffed. "I'm going over to Em's."

"What's with the bag?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"Oh… it's… I have some stuff at Em's dorm."

Saying no more, she walked out, closing the door soundlessly behind her.

"She's… she's going to get her stuff," Alice whispered, doubt in her voice. It took me a while to get the point.

"She's giving up? I asked, equally doubtful.

"Oh, Rose…" Jasper shook his head with a sigh.

"Fuck!"

Alice jumped off the couch, angrily marching towards her room.

"Alice?" I called after her, but to no avail. She was already in her room, and she shut the door with a loud bang.

"It's nothin'," Jasper calmed me, putting his hands on my shoulder. "She just needs to blow off some steam. I'm bettin' she's calling Esme as we speak."

"Her mom?"

"In her own words: 'What good is it whining to you pussies, I've already done that'. She's very close with her mom, an' with Esme being Rose's an' my aunt, it makes all the more sense for Alice to call her."

I stared at him, completely blown away by his insight.

"You have much knowledge," I finally let out. Jasper laughed.

"Cousin, remember?" I instantly felt stupid. Jasper continued: "I know the inner workings of Mary Alice Cullen, an' I'm not sure that's entirely safe."

We both laughed at that. Alice could be very sweet and bubbly, but I had learned that there was a very cunning part of her reality that was immensly impressing and slightly scary.

About half an hour later, my phone began to ring wildly in my bag. I jumped out of the couch, bringing up the phone. It was Rose.

"Rose?" I answered, and I saw Jasper tense up with concentration.

"So I'm guessing Alice is off on a phone rant since I can't get hold of her, and I wasn't sure if Jazzy was still there."

She spoke fast, words bubbling out her mouth. She sounded… happy?

"No, we're all here, we… we're still sort of adjusting to the shock, I guess," I replied warily, mouthing "She sounds happy" to Jasper.

"Well, unshock yourselves, you miserable motherfuckers, 'cause we're going out!" Rose cheered.

Okay, something was wrong here, and I didn't have a fucking clue as to what it was.

"Rose, are you whacked up on something?" I asked bluntly.

"No more than usual," Rose quipped, letting out a laugh. "Look, pry the drama-sprite from her phone, get dressed to impress and meet us at Emmett's dorm. Both Jazz and Al know the way. See ya!"

I didn't even have time to protest or even say bye before she had hung up on me.

"What was that about?" Jasper asked, concern in his voice.

"I have no fucking idea…" I replied off-handedly, tossing the phone back into my bag. "She wanted us to go ut with her and Em."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah, she said 'unshock yourselves, you miserable motherfuckers, 'cause we're going out', and then asked us to get dressed to impress," I relayed, paraphrasing Rose.

"She's up to somethin'."

"No shit!"

We both sort of spaced out for a couple of seconds, before I spoke again:

"Okay, you go change, I'll handle Alice. We'll meet in fifteen," I ordered him.

"You do know that's impossible, right?" Jasper teased me, his eyes glittering dangerously. "We're talking about Alice here."

"Hello, room mate! Now scoot!"

He was out in a blink, snickering as he went at my pitiful timeline. Getting Alice ready in fifteen minutes for a special occasion was like trying to get world peace, cure cancer and win the lottery all at the same time. I sighed deeply, stood up and walked over to the door leading to Alice and Rosalie's room.

"Alice?" I called cautiously, and knocked. "Al? Rose called…"

The door flew open.

"Yes? What'd she say?"

"First of all, thanks for not squishing my face with that door swing. Second, I'm only gonna say this once, 'cause it's what I know. You can analyse your butt off, but I'm not gonna repeat myself, okay?"

Alice rolled her eyes at me, waving her hand to urge me on.

"Rose called, sounded happy. Told us, meaning you, me and Jasper, to meet her and Emmett at Em's dorm. We are to dress nicely, 'cause we're going out. End of message. Just being a messenger here, if there was a choice between getting shot and getting harrassed with questions I can't answer, I'd go for option one right now, just so you know."

Alice breathed deeply in and out, her eyes squinted closed.

"Okay, so how much time have I… I mean we, got?" she then asked, still keeping her eyes shut.

"I told Jazz we'd meet him in fifteen…"

Alice's eyes flew open, and she laughed manically.

"I'm just gonna go right on ignoring that last part. We leave when we're ready."

With that, she turned on her heel, marching towards her closet to begin the almost endless process of picking out the perfect outfit. I shook my head, smiled and walked into my own room. Contrary to Alice, I didn't have a fuckload of dresses to chose from. I had two, and I had made it a point to hide them from Al. One was a simple black cocktaildress, and the other one was my unused prom dress, a bright green, kneelenght thing made out of satin with straps that could be taken off. Renee had bought if for my senior prom, but she fell ill on prom night, and I had to take her to the hospital. She felt terrible about me missing prom, but I was thankful because I had successfully avoided a night of getting ogled by a bunch of infantile tools.

This seemed like a good enough occasion to break in my prom dress. I could hear Alice go into the bath room, and I thanked whatever higher power that I had showered this morning before going Christmas shopping. I quickly undressed, and took the dress from its hanger. The material felt smooth and soft against my skin when I pulled it on and zipped it up. It felt sort of awkward to be this dressed up on a Wednesday. I tried walking around the room, doing little awkward twirls as I went. Nope, still weird as fuck. I looked down on my feet. Shit, shoes! I had no shoes that fit the dress, since I highly doubted the little dressmonster would let me go in my tennis shoes even if it would be the only thing fitting on my injured foot right now. I walked out and over to the bathroom door, knocking a couple of times.

"God, Bella, give a girl some time to get pretty for a non-descript event!" Alice yelled from inside.

"It's not that," I replied, snickering. "I… I don't have any shoes."

"What color is the dress, and please, Bella, have some fucking mercy on my nerves, and tell me it's a dress!"

"It's a dress all right, and it's green…"

"What sort of green?" Al inquired furtively.

"How the hell should I know? It's fucking green, isn't that enough?"

Al growled from inside, and I could picture her clenching her teeth, counting to ten.

"Fine. Rose has a pair of cream colored high heel strappy sandals that should be your size, and I have a purse that goes with them perfectly."

"Alice... Girl with injured foot here. Strappy heels are out of the questions."

"No offense, but I hate your foot right now. Okay, new plan. Ballerinas. You've gotten rid of that eyesore of a support cast, right?"

"I have a flesh colored, lighter one, sort of like a tight, thick sock, so yes, the eyesore is gone."

"Okay, then, ballerinas for you, Go check Rose's closet for a pair that goes with the dress."

"And you think Rose won't mind?"

"With such short notice, she'll just have to deal!" came the answer. "The shoes should be in the closet on the farthest left on Rose's side, and then check the middle drawer on my side for a purse to go along with it!"

I wasn't quite sure what Alice offered could be construed as 'help', but nevertheless, I shuffled off into Rose and Al's room, searching for the shoes first. I found three pairs of ballerinas, though I couldn't for the life of me tell which pair matched the dress better. I abandoned the shoe-quest in favor of the purse, and found the one Alice had mentioned at the bottom of the designated drawer, and I sat down on Al's bed, trying to compare the color of the purse with the color of the shoes. All three pairs of shoes still looked the same color I put the shoes back in the closet.

"Wow, nice dress, Bells. Who knew you had some actual taste?"

I returned to reality, only to find Alice standing in front of me, wrapped in a scant towel, a teasing smile on her lips.

"Aw, Al, thanks for the vote of fucking confidence. Do I look okay, or will you torment me and not say anything until we're halfway out the door?"

"Twirl, please," Alice cooed happily, spinning circles with her fingers.

"One twirl. Not two, not three," I warned her.

I rose from the bed, doing one quick twirl before sitting down again.

"Okay, first, the dress is not only green, it's emerald green, so some light gold tones would be perfect, I think Rose has a pair of pale gold ballerinas here somewhere… And really, why don't you have shoes that match?" Alice rambled on, walking over to the shoecloset on Rose's side, rummaging through until she found the right pair, which happened to be one of the pairs I had spotted before. "Nevermind, don't answer that question!"

She pulled out a pair of goldtinted torture shoes from the closet.

"Try these on," she commanded, throwing me the shoes.

I quickly got off the shoes I was wearing, stepping into the new shoes. Still couldn't see the difference between the two other pairs I had seen, but Alice obviously did, she hummed very appreciatively.

"Okay, accessories. You need more gold."

"I will not look like Xzibit kidnapped me and pimped the hell out of me!"

"God, drama queen, chill the fuck out. I'm talking about adding a discreet gold necklace and matching ear rings," Alice snapped at me.

Fortyfive minutes after Jasper had left the dorm, we left. Alice had glammed the hell out of herself with a short, red satin dress with a puffy skirt and thin shoulder straps. We met up with Jasper outside school, and he whistled appreciatively at us when we came, though I can't imagine I looked particularly attracting with my crutches. Alice hailed us a cab, and Jasper gave the cabbie the address for Emmett's dorm. I felt incredibly self-aware in the dress, which was sort of odd. Tights, leotards and tutus were no problem but force me into a satin dress and fancy shoes and I was a fish out of water. I prayed I never had to wear a dress ever again, and decided I would take the dress home over Christmas break and "forget" to bring it back.

"Okay, what's the deal here?" I said, breaking the silence in the cab.

"What do you mean, Bella?" Alice said, obviously missing the point. "The told us to meet them, you said so yourself."

"No, not that. It's just that I don't get it. Rose and Emmett clearly has some twisted Romeo and Juliet-deal going on, so can anyone tell me why The Hales, well, your parents," I clarified and turned to look at Jasper. "Why don't they like Emmett?"

The question had haunted and fascinated me since day one, and every scenario seemed as unlikely as the next.

"He's got a rap sheet," Jasper told me bluntly, not even blinking.

Wow. That statement held all the force of a suckerpunch, or a cold shower. Emmett was an ex-con? From that perspective, I could understand why Mr. and Mrs. Hale didn't like him. Renee wouldn't exactly be thrilled either if I began dating a convicted felon. She could be quite lenient, but if I ever dragged home a guy who'd been in prison, I'd be on a train heading for a convent the next day. Thinking about it, Emmett did resemble a con, with the muscles and the tattoo and the language...

"Oh, come on, Bella! Emmett is not a murderer or a rapist!" Alice rebuked me when she saw my shocked and no doubt judging expression. "He got sent to juvie when he was fifteen, he didn't even do anything, really. Wrong place, wrong time, that's all."

"Okay..."

"Trust me on this," Al continued dismissively. "He sat on his ass for six months not having a fucking clue as to what actually got him there. If he ever was a danger, Rose pussywhipped it out of him. He adores her, honest to God."

"So your parents hate Emmett because he as a past?" I said to Jasper, disbelief now coloring my voice.

"Do you think it mattered to my parents that it was 'only' juvie? As soon as they found out he had a record, he was blacklisted," Jasper explained, sounding rather defensive, even though he clearly didn't approve of his parents' opinion of Em.

"I can't believe you're defending them!" I exclaimed wildly.

"They're my family," Jasper sneered in reply.

"Okay, kids, to your corners or I will take your toys away," Alice interfered, always happy to play mediator.

"Anyway," she continued, sounding a bit vindictive. "If the Hales had only known what skeletons Royce Fu-Kin was hiding in his closet..."

Royce... Right, Alice had mentioned him at the beginning of the term, something about him being a pervert ass.

"What kinds of skeletons would that be?"

"The ones daddy pays to disappear because it would be very bad if the influential friends of the King-family found out about it," Jasper said before Alice could answer.

"That bad?" I asked, looking from Jasper to Alice and back.

"I don't know, Bella. What would you call abuse and attempted rape?" Alice responded dryly.

"Rose..? He..?" I couldn't form the words.

"No, but it was close. He was drunk, his friends were drunk, and Rose was just a nice little trophy to him, somethin' that should be seen, not heard, that kind of crap. She cussed him out for bein' such a jerk, he responded with a punch an' tried to force himself on her. She managed to kick him in the groin' and get away. He was too drunk to follow. Mom and Dad still don' know about the restrainin' order she had put on him," Jasper explained, his eyes darkening at the mention of what this dickweed Royce had almost done to Rose.

"It's still a mystery to me, but I don't think she did anything illegal," Alice mused.

The cab came to a halt, and we payed the cabbie and exited. I felt slightly dizzy from the whirlwind of facts that had ambushed me just seconds ago. Alice spotted Rose and Emmett just then, and I looked over to where she pointed. They were walking toward us, looking so happy and... perfect together. Rose's smile was radiant, the image clashed with the knowledge that she had been in a really crappy relationship before finding Emmett.

"So, where are we going?" Alice asked bluntly, when the happy couple joined us.

"It's close by. We can walk," Rose said, firing off another dazzling smile.

We let her and Emmett lead the way, following them with mild curiosity. Jasper looked around as we turned the corner, then looked at Rose and Emmett in front of us. It looked like someone had conked him over the head with the answer, his face just lit up with understanding and a fair amount of triumph.

"Oh, she is good..." he murmured to himself.

"What?" I whispered to him.

"She is cutting lose."

"Excuse me?"

"Remember what I told you about our family, about the daughters of the Hale family?"

"Yeah," I said, furrowing my brow for a second. "You said that... that..." Oh. My God. I stared at Jasper incredulously. "No... You're not serious."

"City Hall is just ahead. Rose and Emmett is getting married."

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**A/N**: Happyhappyhappy, yes? Leave a review, and I promise I will try to have Bella back in her ballet flats no later than chapter 19!


	19. Chapter 18: You're the Storm

**A/N**: Ugh, I had plans on posting this on New Years, but that fell through for various reasons, most of them tied to me fighting minor writing block on this story. I finally managed to finish the chapter, and I'm glad I didn't push myself to finish it any sooner. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Twilight characters. We should all know it by now.

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_18. You're the Storm_

At first, I refused to believe it, it all seemed so fucking nuts. On the other hand, it would solve everything for Rose. They met us outside City Hall, and we followed them inside. An elderly justice of the peace married Emmett and Rose, with only myself, Jasper and Alice present as witnesses. I might have imagined Rose as the kind of person, who was destined for a grand wedding with hundreds of guests and her father giving her away, but she looked perfectly happy in a simple white dress, saying "I do" to big, burly Emmett, who was dressed in black slacks and a white button down shirt. When they were pronounced husband and wife, rings on their fingers, Em kissed Rose so ferociously that the justice had to look away. He was not the only one.

We went out to dinner after the ceremony, talking about everything and nothing. Emmett didn't seem to be too afraid of Mr. and Mrs. Hale's reaction to this stunt. I couldn't even begin to imagine what they'd do when they found out. Jasper segued the conversation onto our plans for Christmas. Rose would celebrate with Emmett, leaving Jasper to hold down the fort at home. Alice would celebrate with her family, and she looked forward to torturing Edward with a few pieces of gossip she'd somehow gotten wind of, regarding her brother and a certain strawberry blonde down the hall in his dorm.

"If you were my sister, I'd fucking flay you for that," Emmett pointed out humorously.

"As if, Muscle Man," Alice retorted playfully. "I've got tricks up my sleeve you can only dream of knowing."

"Because you're so frightening in those little shiny shoes and the tutu."

Alice turned to Rose, smiling angelically.

"Rose, for Christmas, I want his balls." She pointed to Emmett. "I want them glittery, so I can hang them in my Christmas tree and then crush them with my nutcracker."

We all laughed as Emmett put his hands protectively in front of his crotch, and said he'd have to break out his old baseball pads just to be sure he'd still have his family jewels after Christmas. Alice was not deterred, and said she could always make it her New Years resolution to have Emmett's balls on a gold plate before the end of next year.

"What about you, Bella?" Jasper asked, and turned to me, apparantly wanting to cut the balls-talk short.

"What?"

"What are you doin' for Christmas?"

Hadn't we gone over this already? Hadn't I told him during our Christmas shopping? I tried to remember, but my brain wouldn't replay anything but the mistletoe-kiss, and that was not a picture I should keep in my mind too long, because it would show.

"I'm... flying to Florida tomorrow. Spending winter break with my mom and Phil, her husband."

"Florida?" Rose whined. "There's no snow in Florida!"

"And there's no snow in Knoxville either, as far as I know," I retorted, and looked at Emmett, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but I can live with that!"

"So what's the deal about me in Florida and no snow?" I countered, furrowing my brow.

"You need snow, Bella. Come on, isn't Christmas just that much better with snow? I know snow, I'm a close and personal friend of snow..."

"Rose, I know what snow looks like, there's plenty of it here!"

"But you won't have a white Christmas!"

"Is it just me, or is she nuts?" I turned to look at the others

"Nuts," Alice and Jasper said simultaneously, smirking.

"Just chill, Rose. I know snow. I know it well, too. I will have a nice, snow-free, happy Christmas, and I will be opening presents, drinking eggnog and making sure my foot gets better so I can kick some ballet-butt when I get back."

There was a beat of silence.

"You are so weird..." Rose said bluntly, and I took it as a sign that we could move on.

We stayed for another hour, before Alice thought it was time to head back to the Academy. Rose and Emmett said they'd catch up with us, they had some unfinished business, and no one asked them for more details. Alice tried to keep up the conversation on our way home. Jasper and I patiently answered all of her questions and added to her predictions about how Mr. and Mrs. Hale would react when they finally found out about Rose and Emmett. Not that any of us could have predicted that.

It began as soon as we entered the dorm. Mr. and Mrs. Hale stood waiting outside mine, Alice's and Rose's dorm, and they looked grim. I could clearly see where Rose and Jasper had gotten their good looks from. Mr. Hale was tall and lean, like Jasper, but he lacked the softness that both his children had. Mrs. Hale, Alice's aunt, was slender and as blonde as Rose was. She looked like a woman that wouldn't listen to any bullshit.

"Jasper," Mr. Hale greeted, either ignoring Alice and me or maybe greeting Jasper was his way of greeting all of us, hell if I knew.

"Father," Jasper replied, sounding oddly formal in his greeting.

"Jasper, where is Rosalie?" Mrs. Hale asked evenly.

I could see Jasper quickly glancing over at Alice, who answered:

"She'll be along soon, Aunt Zoe. She's..."

"Thank you, Alice, dear."

"Aunt Zoe, Uncle Clarence, this is Isabella Swan. She lives with me and Rose," Alice introduced me, not taking note of Mrs. Hale's cold dismissal.

I suddenly felt very stiff and awkward, not particularly keen on exposing myself to Mr. Hale's stern face and Mrs. Hale's judging gaze. Nevertheless, my body moved forward, my right hand stretched out and I heard myself saying something ridiculously uptight along the lines of "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Please, call me Bella." I could feel Alice and Jasper stare at me, and I myself wondered who the fuck had hijacked my higher brain functions. In the heat of the moment, I blamed it on the dress.

Mr. Hale shook my hand without saying anything, his handshake as stern as he was. Mrs. Hale, while looking like someone who'd bite back without second thought if provoked, had a surprisingly gentle handshake, and she nodded curtly, uttering a simple 'pleasure' in return, before reverting back to a stiff, important-looking statue.

Alice opened the door to the dorm, and Rose and Jasper's parents took it as an invitation to step in, and we all followed, Jasper suddenly looking grim, and Alice rolling her eyes. I snuck into my room to change out of the horrid, brain-jacking dress, and into my "safe clothes", jeans and a t-shirt. I wondered if I should go out again, or if I should stay where I was, letting the family solve this without me sticking my nose where it really didn't belong. I massaged my injured foot a bit, stretching and pointing it carefully. It still felt stiff, but obviously not as bad as it had weeks ago. Training with Maria, however surly and bitchy she was, had paid off. I leaned over the edge of the bed, pulling out the bag I had packed for Christmas, pulled it out in front of me and rummaged through it.

For some insane reason, I had packed my pointe shoes. It wasn't like I would be dancing en pointe for another two or three months, but it was a sort of comfort. I ran my fingers along the smooth satin, weighing the left shoe in my hands. On a whim, I carefully put the shoes on and laced them up. I hadn't worn pointe shoes in... forever. It felt like forever, and having them back on was like saying hello to a friend you haven't seen in ages. I wanted nothing more than to spring up and start twirling around the room wildly, my feet even gave anxious twitches, as if to show me that all systems were go. Well, almost all systems. The support sock, its fleshtoned color looking so obviously fake next to my pale skin, was like a glaring red alert-signal. I made a face, and untied the ribbons, and took of the shoes, chucking them back into my packed bag.

An hour passed, and I hid out in my room, while Jasper and Alice sat just outside my door, presumably making uncomfortable smalltalk with Jasper's parents. At long last, the front door openened, and I could hear someone enter. Judging by Mrs. Hale's banshee-like shriek that followed, it couldn't be anyone else but Rose and Emmett. Following the shriek, Mr. Hale spoke in a thunderous voice which carried into my room with perfect clarity. Rose had not wasted time, she must've shoved her wedding ring in their faces. Shouts rang through the dormroom, Rose cussing, and her parents arguing loudly with her, calling her a multitude of non-curse words which all translated to 'disappointment'. This seemed to be an argument between Rosalie and her parents, I hadn't once heard Emmett raise his voice, though his name had been mentioned plenty of times already. Jasper and Alice were non-participants, too. I had expected that Al, the little chatterbox, would've inserted a fair few cursewords herself, but the way Rose was going on, Alice might not get a word in no matter how hard she tried.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a short knock, and before I could hop over, the door opened just a small crack.

"I formally request sanctuary," Jasper half-whispered.

I smiled a goofily, then gave myself a mental kick in the ass and told him to enter.

"Those three, they can go on forever. Alice gave up half an hour ago."

"There sure seems to be an awful lot of unresolved shit going down," I noted while Jasper crossed the room and sat down on my desk chair.

"I feel bad for Emmett, Rose is basically out there fighting for him, an' he's reduced to sittin' down and watchin' as the insults fly around like balls on a tennis court."

"Poor Em, that must be a huge blow on his manhood."

Jasper snickered and nodded in agreement. Emmett was a big fan of bragging about how masculine he was, and him being a glorified Mr. Muscles kinda helped his case.

"You packin'?" Jasper asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked to Jasper, who was nodding at my bags.

"Yeah, I... I'm just checking that I have everything, you know. Not that it'll matter, I'll still forget something important and remember it on the plane, and spend the flight declaring myself a total idiot. Whoever sits next to me should be in for a nice flight."

"Plannin' on gettin' a head start with your return to dancin'?" Jasper commented, picking up my pointe shoes from the bag. My immediate reaction was to tell him to fuck off and stop touching my things, because the last thing I needed was for him to find my Hello Kitty!-underwear. I made a mental note to bring back the Victoria's Secret night gown Renee had bought for my birthday.

"And have the pleasure of getting yelled at by Maria? No thank you," I responded, grabbing the shoes and tucking them into the bag and zipping it shut. "I just brought them for... Well, I don't really know why I brought them, I just did. Motivation, or whatever."

"That's nice."

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a long time, half-listening to the raging fight outside. Suddenly, Jasper spoke, and the thing that came out of his mouth was not what I had expected in a million years.

"Have you ever seen a storm, Bella?"

"No... Not that I can remember," I replied, puzzled over this change of topic. "But I might get the chance now that Renee's living in Florida."

"I saw two before we moved from Texas. It was the most amazin' thing I've ever seen. Destructive as hell, but still beautiful," he continued, seemingly lost in the moment.

"Well, I've only ever seen the result of a storm, on tv, and I don't really see where you get beautiful and amazing from."

"People can spend so much time an' money an' effort preparin' for a storm, an' they still end up surprised an' unprepared when it hits."

"So... The beauty of unpredictability, then?" I suggested, taking a wild guess.

"The beauty of never knowin' anything for certain," Jasper corrected me, smiling.

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, so I gave a half-smile in kind that could be taken as anything. It just didn't seem like the right moment for a 'what the fuck are you talking about, I don't fucking understand what your babbling about'. Outside my room, the door slammed. Either Rose or the parents must've stormed out. We heard Rose shriek "Fuck!", and the door slammed again. Jasper rose from the chair and moved towards the door.

"I should go. Make sure none of 'em say things they'll regret after a thousand years."

I nodded and wished him good luck. I was definitely not jealous of his position. Meddling between Rose and the parental units was pretty fucking low on my list of things I'd never do, plenty above 'turning nazi', but just below 'follow another stranger home' (there I'd at least have a sporting chance of making it out alive).

Jasper was almost out the door when he turned around.

"You're the storm, Bella. I know you maybe didn't get it, but think about it over Christmas. You're the storm."

Then he took something out of his trouser pocket and tossed it to me. I caught it, and noticed it was a small parcel, a Christmas gift. I began saying 'thank you' and 'you shouldn't have', but Jasper had already disappeared out of my room and seconds later I heard the door to the dorm close. I smirked, and looked down at the little parcel. It was small, uneven, but slightly rectangular. I had a good mind to open it, but didn't. Instead, I put it in my purse.

I didn't see or hear from Alice that night, and I turned in pretty early, seeing as I had the earliest flight booked for me. I wasn't much of a morning person, and I cursed my alarm clock to hell and back when it rang. I slouched out of bed, got dressed and called a cab to come pick me up. I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen area and a veggie bagel and took my bags. I left a Merry Christmas-note on the board by the door, and snuck out. The hallways were quiet as the grave, as I hurried through them and out of the building. The cab was waiting outside as I exited campus, and I dozed off on my way to the airport.

Check-in took forever, and when I finally got to my seat, I couldn't even relax, because I had the seat closest to the aisle, and had to wait and stand up when the other two passengers in that seat row found their way onto the plane with so much fucking hand luggage I had a good mind to call up a stewardess and ask if they were following the rules. I kept quiet, though, and prayed my two seat neighbors were tired and would doze of as soon as we were up in the air.

Of course, they weren't. They talked, as if their lives depended on it. Not to me, obviously, with my patience running as low as it did, I would've told them to take a swan dive from the boarding hatch. No, they talked to each other. Within ten minutes of the plane taking off, I knew everything there was to know about the two people sitting next to me, no matter how hard I tried blocking them out. I tried faking sleep, but I'm not sure they even noticed my attempts. I tried moving about in my seat, feigning irritation. The woman in the seat next to mine though I was cramped for space, and she pulled her legs a little more to the left.

Finally, I was so irritated, I started rummaging through my purse for some kind of weapon. I couldn't take them anymore, I needed something to shut them up. Unfortunately, my purse didn't contain any sharp or blunt instrument that could've inflicted any sort of serious physical harm. Instead, I found the little Christmas gift that Jasper had tossed to me before leaving. Seeing as I was starved for distraction I ignored everything I had ever learned about not opening Christmas gifts before Christmas Day, and started tearing at the little parcel. Inside was a keychain, with a tiny little doll dressed like a ballerina attached to it. I had seen these kinds of keychains before, some of the girls in my class back in high school had bought them for each other as friendship gifts. I looked at the little ballerina doll. She had a tiny pink lace dress, with details made out of red string. Her hair, or what should have been her hair, was made out of frilly fabric, tied into something that looked like a high ponytail. She had no mouth, no nose, only two black beads for eyes. On top of her head, was a small ring stuck in, to which the chain itself along with a small jingling bell was attached. One of the ballerina's legs was bent so it looked like she might be doing a pirouette when you spun the chain.

Now more than ever did the flight seem to take forever. I couldn't call Jasper in the middle of the flight, and I anxiously checked the watch to see how long it was until we landed. I beckoned the digital numbers to change faster, and when the plane began it's decent, I was whispering to myself, begging the pilot to just land the plane fast as fuck. I sprinted as fast as I could out of the plane and into the terminal, past the passport check and off to luggage claim. While I waited for my bags to appear, I dialled Jasper.

"Hello?" he answered after the second beep.

"Thank you," I blurted, somehow unable to form any other words.

"You're welcome..?"

"For the gift. It was cute."

Jasper laughed quietly on the other end. "I thought Christmas wasn't for another few days."

"I had the worst seat neighbors ever, sue me."

"So you really liked the gift? I thought since you had that keychain-thing goin' with that friend of yours..." Jasper began.

"Jake," I chipped in, nodding to myself as I turned the ballerina over and over.

"Right, Jake. Well, I thought maybe you'd want another keychain to hold on to."

"Well, it has a ballerina attached to it, so I think it's pretty fitting."

"It's more than a ballerina. It's a voodoo ballerina. Thought it might help you fend off the Fiends when you get back after winter break."

"A voodoo ballerina? Shouldn't you have made dolls that look like Jane and Alec so I can stick them full of needles and curse them back to hell?" I quipped playfully.

"It's not that kind of voodoo, Bella. I'm surprised you even believe in that," Jasper countered. "And, even if that kind of voodoo was real, do you really think they'd sell voodoo dolls at the nearest gift store?"

"Hmm, you're probably right. So what kind of voodoo doll is this?"

"The kind that protects and watches over people. Seein' as you've got your foot to worry about, I thought you might need some extra protection."

"This might possibly be the sweetest gift I've ever received," I said honestly, wishing I would've thought of buying him something.

"Don't worry about it. Just have a good Christmas an' come back to school so we can get you back dancin', okay?"

"Okay."

"Merry Christmas, Bella."

"Merry Christmas, Jasper."

Our call ended just as my bags rolled out onto the conveyor belts. I put the ballerina key chain back in my purse, claimed my bags and with a goofy smile on my face, went out into the welcoming hall to the jubilant shrieks of my mother. Couldn't Christmas be over already?

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**A/N**: I know someone who should recognize the gift Jasper gave Bella. I've got one myself, a gift from Kass to keep me inspired. It really came through here, so thank you once again! Also, I had huge trouble picking out a name for Mr. Hale. I found a list of popular 1950's names, and an absurdly large amount of them made me think of Veronica Mars. I mean, just look at the name I picked! :p

Leave a review and make me happy!


	20. Chapter 19: I Solemnly Swear to Kick Ass

**A/N**: God, this chapter took long to finish! I wanted nothing more than to start off the new year with this chapter, but writing block decided to interfere, and I was stuck in Gilmore Girls-land until recently. Well, technically, I still am, the good townsfolk of Stars Hollow don't know about my Twilight-moonlighting. Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter, who put me on alert and favorited me. You are all awesome. Special thanks to TheTigerChick, who made me an awesome banner - my profile pic. Enjoy the chaper!

**Disclaimer**: Smeyer owns Twilight. If I did, you'd have heard it on the news.

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_19. I Solemnly Swear to Kick Ass_

Time moved differently during winter break. From the time Renee threw her arms around at the airport, the days moved in strange lurches, while the sleepless nights took forever. Jasper was constantly on my mind, the jingling voodoo ballerina and his strange comment about me being a storm keeping my thoughts occupied. No matter how hard I tried willing myself to sleep, he was there. When I finally fell asleep, Jasper was in my dreams. The steamdream was back again, and I awoke almost every night, panting, while my body burned with longing desire. I fought my raging urges for a week, I refused to let myself off by indulging my twisted fuck of a brain, and fantasize about Jasper.

The problem was, I got antsy, and Renee started noticing. And trust me, when Renee notices, you're in trouble. So I finally had to give in; I just couldn't take the pent up tension anymore. Frankly, I didn't even have to try hard. Three featherlight brushes and the heat was unleashed, undulating through my body, giving me pleasure I had never felt before. Then I saw the little pink ballerina, propped up against the lamp on my nightstand, and I felt embarrassed. I may even have called myself a pathetic fucker out loud. I didn't finger myself again for the rest of winter break.

Instead, I toughed it out with the rehabilitation exercises Maria had given me, and a wobble board Renee had more or less tossed at me my first day home. It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but Renee was so elated about me finally getting back to dancing when I got back to school, and neither Phil, nor I could hold her back. It was a good present, though, I could do the exercises on it, and practice my balance. I was supposed to have a re-evaluation with Maria first thing when I got back to school, and I wouldn't give that bitch any reason to keep me from ballet any longer than necessary. My foot already felt better, I was a mess everytime I took out my pointe shoes and tried them on. I was ready, and I wanted to dance, now.

Christmas Day was a nice break from things. I helped Renee in the kitchen, joked with Phil about the Christmas tree, sort of surprised that Renee hadn't made him get a palm tree instead. Charlie called at 7 pm, on the dot, to wish me a Merry Christmas and thank me profusely for the calendar. I thanked him in turn for the camera he'd sent me, and promised to take pictures for the scrapbook Renee had made me. Phil gave me a couple of books I had drooled over all year.

Alice called late to wish me a Merry Christmas from her and from Rose and Emmett. All hell had apparantly broken lose between Rose and her parents since they found out Rose had managed to transfer her savings from the Hale family accounts to a new, private one she had set up for her and Em. Mr and Mrs. Hale had obviously thought that if they could freeze Rose's account before she got to them, she'd come crawling back to her family. In that moment, I couldn't help but admire Rose. She was nobody's bitch. I sent Jasper a Merry Christmas-text, figuring that calling him on Christmas might be inadvisable, considering recent events. He texted me back around midnight, and I hardly had to close my eyes before my brain kicked into steamdream-mode. The days between Christmas and New Years went by in a flurry of "Fuck my life"-mutterings.

New Years was a pretty uneventful happening. Mom and Phil had some friends over, there was dinner (one that Renee by some fucking miracle had managed not to fuck up), boring talk, people going fucking Spanish Inquisition on me about my foot. We all wrote New Years resolutions (mine read "I will not fuck Jasper's brains out when I get back to school") one hour before midnight and then burned them as the clock struck midnight. Big fucking whoop. I texted "Happy New Year!" to everyone I knew, except for Charlie and Jake. I called Charlie to wish him a happy new year. As per usual, he was out on the reservation, partying "like it was 1899" (those were Jake's words, not Charlie's). A few minutes in, Charlie handed the phone to Jake. Big mistake, at least for Charlie's phone bill. Jake and I hadn't talked in a while, so we spent two hours rehashing the entire year. Jake actually hid in a closet so that Charlie wouldn't find him and pry the phone away from him.

As I went to sleep at 3.30 am, I looked at the little voodoo ballerina again, and made another New Years resolution: I would become the best ballerina the Volturi Academy had ever seen. And if that required physically injuring the evil twins, then so be it.

After this, time finally began picking up, and before I knew it, I was back at my dorm, unpacking. I couldn't really put a finger on what I had done since that night, but I supposed it mostly involved exercising and trying to figure out the meaning behind Jasper's cryptic storm-reference. So far I had nothing, absolutely nada. I had made the craziest Google searches ever known to man, and could off the top of my head name at least ten storm gods (Aeolus, Boreas, Notus, Eurus, Zephyrus, Fujin, Njord, Venti, Feng Bo and Vayu) from five different mythologies (Greek, Japanese, Norse, Roman, Chinese and Hindu), and I could tell anyone who wanted to listen about the interpretative meaning of dreaming of a storm (nearly always indicative of a conflict, either with the self or with someone you're in a relationship with. Dreaming about wind, not a storm, was something completely different). None of that, however, inspired any epiphanies about what Jasper had meant when he said I was the storm.

Alice and Rose had arrived before me, but weren't home when I came. They had left me messages on the board, though. Rose was with Emmett (no surprise there) and Al had gone to kick Felix's sorry ass at DDR again. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go check in on her. With any luck, Jasper would be there, and he could tell me the meaning behind the storm-thing. Not that I had high hopes or anything. I changed out of my clothes, they smelled like airport, and tried to keep the lewd Jasper-pictures out of my head. As I walked through the mostly empty corridors, I repeated my New Years resolution, the one I had burned, silently to myself.

"I will not fuck Jasper's brains out when I get back to school. I will not fuck Jasper's brains out when I get back to school..."

"Isabella..."

Fuck. Did they have to be everywhere? I looked up and saw Jane and Alec, smiling smugly at me. And did they always have to be two?

"I see you're back on you feet," Alec commented, and gave me one of those scanning looks that always made me feel like I needed to take a shower immediately afterwards.

"Yes," I replied through clenched teeth.

"How nice," Jane said in a voice that was cold and condescending. "We have missed you so in class."

"Do you think you will be able to keep up?"

"Yes, if your dancing has turned as bad as your French, you should definitely be worried."

"Oh, I will catch up, and when I do..." I sneered threateningly, giving them each a death glare, which they (sadly) just shrugged off. I snorted. "Excuse me." I walked right in between them, not caring if I bumped them into the wall.

My temper had reached a boiling point when I finally stood outside Felix, Peter and Jasper's dorm. When I knocked on the door, it wasn't as much a knock as a banging that could've demolished the doorframe.

"Password!" someone, probably Felix, yelled from inside.

I wanted to yell something at him, preferably "Open the fucking door before I kick it the fuck down and tan your ass, fuckwuss!", but that would alert the entire building to my shitty mood, which I didn't want. I slammed my fist even harder to the door instead. Felix was smart enough not to continue the password-charade, and heavy steps came towards the door, and a second later, it cracked open.

"Password," he said happily when he saw it was me.

"I'm sorry, you must mistake me for someone who gives a shit," I said and gave him a withering stare.

Felix didn't reply to that, but held open the door for me, and closed it after I had entered. I stalked over to the couch and slumped down between Alice and Peter, glaring angrily at the tv-set.

"Bella," Alice said carefully. She knew me well enough not to piss me off.

"Al," I said curtly.

"How're things?"

"Same old, same old. I want to commit murder, but I seem to have misplaced my _How to Kill Hellspawn_-manual again."

"Ah... They've been prowling around the corridor all day, spewing sulphurous comments, just so you know."

"And has anyone else expressed a burning desire to get rid of them?"

"No," Alice admitted. "But I did see one of the seniors try to snort at them."

"I hate them..." I muttered sourly, slumping down lower, crossing my arms.

"We all do, sweetie. Now, can we all turn our attention to the tv, so Felix can proceed with losing, again."

My crappy attitude, while not disappearing entirely, turned a bit more friendly as the game got going again. Felix was in deed performing badly, but then again, Alice wore one of her skimpier outfits again, so it was to be expected. Peter turned out to be the underdog, and it was him and Alice who ended up competing for first place.

"Come on," Felix said to me, while Peter was doing his final round. "Don't take those two cyborgs seriously."

"Says the guy who's probably never been in their crosshairs," I retorted, nudging him playfully.

"Oh, sure I've been, plenty of times."

"And what do you do when they make a ruder than rude comment about you? You don't exactly look like the kind of guy who'd just roll over."

"Swan, I'm gonna teach you something, a very important lesson that a very important man once taught me..."

"Really? Who?"

"The legen – wait for it – dary..." Felix said, looking off into the distance.

"Oh, for the love of fuck..." I groaned.

"Barney Stinson."

"You have got to be kidding me! That dude isn't real!"

"I will pretend like I didn't hear that."

"Barney Stinson is a tool in a suit," I continued with distaste. Felix had tried to get me sold on _How I Met Your Mothe_r for a couple of months. So far, he hadn't had much of a success.

"Lady, you are making it hard for me to hear a word you say," Felix said, a glint in his eye.

I heaved a sigh.

"Fine... What did the Barnacle say this time?"

"When I'm sad, I just stop being sad, and be awesome instead," Felix quoted proudly. He had obviously been waiting for the opportune moment to use that expression in a proper conversation. "True story," he added with a grin.

"I fail to see how this is going to help me, Felix."

"Instead of getting pissed, be awesome instead."

"I don't think I'll impress them by suiting up," I pointed out.

"Swan, you're taking this way to seriously," Felix said, lowering his voice. "Suiting up is not optional. What you suit up in, however, is." He wiggled his eyebrows conspiratorially.

"Oh..." I suddenly realized what he meant.

"Mm-hmm," he concurred, nodding approvingly.

"So I 'suit up'... and be awesome instead."

A huge grin spread on Felix's face.

"Exactly, Swan. Exactly.

"Okay, what's going on with the two of you?" Alice interrupted, her voice sounding shriller than normal.

"Barnman has saved the world again," Felix replied cryptically, still looking at me, nodding.

"You are weirder than usual. And it's my turn. Peter's going to get his ass kicked, just so you know."

Felix finally looked up at her, and Alice put her hand on her hip, turning on her heel in a way that displayed every curve of her body. She either found great pleasure in torturing Felix, since he was no longer her competition for first place, or she was trying to seduce him. Not that the one option excluded the other, but who knows. She stepped onto the dancemat, Peter hit play, and it was on.

I wanted to ask where Jasper was, since his absence stuck out like a sore thumb, but at present I'd have better luck getting an answer from a crystal ball. Alice wouldn't let anything disturb her, Felix had his eyes glued to Al's ass, and even Peter looked a little dazed as every part of Alice that could move, moved in the most exaggerated ways. I rolled my eyes at them. Guys. I was with Leslie from _St. Elmo's Fire_ on this: Men, can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em.

"Okay, I'm out," I said five minutes later, when Alice's annoying winner dance was getting on my nerves a bit too much.

She had beat Peter with only ten points, and kept jumping around, pointing at him and hissing "In you face!". It was okay the first time, and completely redundant after that.

"See you back at the dorm!" Alice chirped, waving me off, as she jumped onto the couch, doing a _Rocky_-type winning-gesture.

I shook my head, and left. I didn't really want to go back to my room, but I didn't want to OD on Al either. I stalked through the corridors, peeking around corners and looking over my shoulder so as not to be surprised by the Fiends again. I made it out of the dormatories without any altercations, and strolled around the studios. A few people were practicing, I saw two third years practice pas de deux, a girl breaking in her new pointe shoes. And in the little studio just down the hall from the studio where Caius Giuliano held technique class, was... Jasper.

The door was closed this time, but I somehow imagined he'd be dancing to Clair de Lune again. He was glorious, and I took a moment to once again appreciate his beauty and skill. Then I shook my head and berated myself. Really, Bella, three weeks off from school and now you act like this is news? I stepped closer to the window screen and tapped it. Jasper immediately halted his movements and his eyes darted to me. I gave him a pathetic little wave, and he waved back, a big smile on his face. I moved to the door, opening it.

"Still trying to fix the turnout?" I asked with a smile.

"Maybe... When'd you get back?"

"Today. I just came from your dorm, actually. Alice won att DDR, again, and Felix actually gave me a good advice."

"Really?" Jasper said, sounding surprised.

"Really," I affirmed.

"An' what advice might that be?"

"Suit up and be awesome."

"Suit... No, don' tell me he got you hooked on _How I Met Your Mother_?"

"Not exactly."

"You've lost me."

"Barney Stinson, while remaining a womanizing tool who's confidence lies entirely in his ridiculous suits, actually had a point this time," I said, still being secretive.

"Are you bein' secretive because of what I said before winter break?" Jasper faux-sighed.

"Maybe... What was that about, by the way?"

"Nothin' that you won't die from not knowin', Bella."

"Will you tell if I tell?"

Jasper made a show of pretending to consider the matter, but his face gave him away. He wouldn't tell me, which greatly annoyed me. Here I had gone mad trying to figure out the storm-reference, and now, when I was at a complete loss and willing to trade information, he wouldn't play.

"Oh, you are evil, you know that?" I teased him.

"Evil enough to take first place from our resident bullies?"

"If you've graduated to killing and sacrificing kittens, I might just push you up to fourth place."

"So no, then?"

"Yes. I mean no, or well... I mean you are not more evil than them. I doubt you could ever play in their league. No offense."

"None taken," he smiled. "So, you're gettin' back to dancin' now, aren't you?"

"I'm having a meeting with my physio-hag tomorrow, but I will literally jump off a cliff if she turns me down. I can't stand not dancing any longer," I replied, wiggling and pointing my left foot.

"I think Alice is real excited about getting you back in shape."

"It will be good to rehearse with you guys. You're still in, right? You promised me you'd help with my pliés."

"If I remember correctly, Alice promised that I would help you. I never said anythin'."

"Yes, you were being Mr. Helpful."

"You said 'I'm fine' so many times the expression lost all meaning," Jasper countered, a joking glint in his teal eyes.

"And 'Don't freak out' was such a good way to break the news?"

"Fine, we both sucked."

"We need to get out of the suck-rut. From now on, we will only kick ass," I decided resolutely.

"Agreed," Jasper nodded, reaching out his hand.

I took it, and we shook hands in the silent studio.

"I solemnly swear to kick ass," I said, and my heart took a triumphant leap in my chest.

"So, tomorrow, after your meeting with your physiotherapist..."

"Hag. Physio-hag," I corrected him.

"...we begin Operation: Bella is back in business. Okay?" Jasper continued, ignoring my quip.

"Deal."

We said goodbye, and I walked back to the dorm. I hardly saw anyone on my way back, but those who did pass me, I shot a look of confidence and determination. Beware, little mice... Bella's back.

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**A/N**: So, from now on there will be more dance again, yay! Review and I'll try to hot things up between Bells and Jazz IRL again (although I do like the steamy dreams).


	21. Chapter 20: Back in the Ballet Shoes

**A/N**: And the award for slowest updater goes to… *points to self* I'm all out of apologies, because I have had times to write. I've handed in the draft for my Master's, my classes are all slowing down… I'm battling a cold right now (again), but still, I should be able to write. I hope you still return to read this, because I love this fic to bits, and I will continue updating, no matter how long it takes me. Lots of ups and downs in this chapter, don't know if it all makes sense. For the beginning, I based Bella's "fears" on my own experiences after I had knee surgery and had gone through rehabilitation. First time I tried to play soccer... I was a nervous mess.

Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer**: SMeyer owns Twilight. I just tweak and dream.

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_20. Back in the Ballet Shoes_

"Bella, please! You've been stretching and warming up for half an hour!" Alice moaned and came walking towards me. "Time to get rid of the support wheels and get off the barre."

It was my first training session with Alice, Rose and Jasper. I hadn't even fucking started, and I was already fussing. The Harpy had given me the green light, after a long silence with furrowed brows and pursed lips. I had been so excited, and Alice and Rose and booked us one of the smaller studios the same night to practice in. I had dug out my leotard, my tights and my flats, and meticulously arranged my hair in a bun so tight it felt like I had given myself a facelift worthy of Cher.

For all the excitement I had felt over getting back to dancing, I now felt insecure. I kept stretching my left foot, weighing on it carefully to make sure it wouldn't give in. I could feel cold sweat trickling down my down my neck, and the floor suddenly seemed to be undulating slightly as Alice came marching ever closer. Her tiny hand closed around my wrist in an iron grip, tugging. I refused to let go of the barre. I just stood there, frozen like a statue.

"Bella?" Jasper asked somewhere behind Alice.

"I can't do this," I said monotonously. "I can't do this, I will fuck up my foot completely if..."

"C'mon Bells, you've been waiting for this for months!" Rose told me encouragingly. "You're back in business, baby"

"No, I'm, not. I... I can't. I can't dance." I shook my head, trying to rack my brain for courage and any dance move in the book. I got a big fucking nothing. "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! I can't remember anything!"

I sank down onto the floor, still holding the barre with one hand. The hopelessness and fear was overwhelming, and I couldn't get it under control.

"Bella..." It was Jasper's voice again. "Bella, look at me."

At first, I refused, my eyes fixed on my left foot. But, I couldn't fight it when Jasper placed his hand on my chin and gently forced me to look him in the eye.

"What're you afraid of? What happened to you kickin' ass?"

The question was simple, but it only paralyzed me more. For a short moment, I let myself get lost in his eyes, and then I was back in my misery, struggling to put words on my fear.

"Bella, tell me what you're afraid will happen when you let go," Jasper repeated patiently.

"I'm... scared that I will fail. I'm scared of pain. I'm afraid of not being as good as I was." I wanted to add that I was afraid of having to leave the Volturi Academy and never see him again, but I kept that to myself.

"Oh, you silly thing..." Jasper smiled at me. "You've always been a good dancer. That doesn' go away. You're causin' yourself more pain by holdin' back like this. I've seen you dance, Bella. You were born to dance. You have nothin' to be afraid of."

Saying no more, he pulled me up on my feet, and loosened my cramped grip on the barre, finger by finger, and lead me out onto the floor. I was aware of every step I took, every muscle that moved in my foot, and I listened intently for any sound of it giving in.

But there was nothing. For a few short moments there was pure bliss as Jasper took hold of me and began dancing a slow waltz with me around the room. It soon morphed into a foxtrot mixed with pas de deux. I swivelled around in slow pirouettes, following his lead. His had was firmly placed on my back, and it burned through my clothes. I ached for more, and still felt content with what I had. I asserted the strenght in my feet with every movement, and felt my entire body align to keep the balance. Jasper had been right. I had nothing to fear.

"See, that wasn' too hard, was it?" he told me as we ended our dance.

"I still think I suck," I retorted, though I felt much better about the situation.

"Fuck this shit, let's dance! Alice cheered behind us.

If I had thought that training with Alice, Rose and Jasper would be a cakewalk compared to training with the teachers, I was sorely wrong. They really worked on me, making me do the same movements over and over again if I was even slightly off. Rose particularly riled me about my arabesque, saying that my hips weren't properly aligned, and that I looked like a dog that needed to pee. Jasper, on the other hand, was more patient with me, going through pliés with me for half an hour. Alice was like an annoying duracell bunny, zooming around me, correcting my stance and my arms until it was just right. Then as soon as I moved she groaned, and started over again.

"What? We though you wanted to kick ass, not suck ass now that you'll return to dance classes!" Rose said when I began bitching about how fucking hard they were on me.

"I told you, I suck! There's no denying it."

"Bella, you've been off the barre for months. You think you suck, but you don't. You're still good, we're just making you bitching good. One more word and I will make sure you don't talk for a month," Alice threatened, glowering jokingly at me.

They kept on kicking me back into shape for another hour and a half. By the end, Alice and Rose were very pleased with my glissades and adagios (though Alice and Rose spent a fair amount of time getting my legs to align properly there too...), and Jasper said my pliés were getting better. I had to take their word for it, because I still thought I sucked donkey ass.

When my two dorm mates left, silence fell over the studio. I was surprised to notice Jasper staying behind.

"Thanks for tonight," I said. "You know, for convincing me to get over myself."

"It was my pleasure," he replied, as gentlemanly as ever. "I meant every word I said."

I blushed, smiling like a giddy mofo on the inside.

"What classes will you be takin'? I imagine you'll have to stay away from pointe class."

"I won't be en pointe for another month or so. I hate it. My pointe shoes are haunting my dreams," I joked, satisfied to see him smirk. "I'm back in Giuliano's technique class, and I'll try gymnastics with Marcus Santi, see if it could work out to substitute for my pointe class for the time being. I'll be back waltzing with you in ballroom class, if you'll have me."

"I could need a change of partner," Jasper commented sardonically.

"Really?"

"Dancin' with Renata is not so fun."

"She isn't a bad dancer." I was shamelessly fishing for a compliment. Either Jasper didn't notice, or he played right into it.

"Let's put it this way: even with crutches, you could've pulled off a better quickstep than Renata."

"Ouch, tell her what you really think, won't you?"

"Her quickstep is horrible. I've been workin' my butt off tryin' to make it look good."

And there he was, dragging his butt into things. I found myself glancing at him, at his more well-sculpted parts, and the temperature in the small studio seemed to skyrocket. I cleared my throat.

"So, we're good here?" I blurted out, anxious to get away before I did something I'd have to kill myself for.

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow in Aro Vincenza's class. We're starting' with the International Latin dances, so bring the fire, Swan," Jasper said, cocking an eyebrow.

I gave him a weak smile before bolting out of the studio. I only stopped to unlock the door to my dorm with fumbling hands, and stumbled in. I let out a ragged breath. Fuck me, I would not survive ballroom dancing tomorrow. Why did I let him have this effect on me? There was just something about him that made me act like a dumb fuck, all stupid and enraptured.

"Fuck..." I muttered to myself, going into my room.

I pulled off the tights and the leotard. I hadn't even officially started the new semester, and it already looked like it was going to be less than spectacular. I took a hot shower, put on my PJ's and glanced at the schedule I had picked up from the administrations office. Fan-fucking-tastic. I'd start the day off with ballroom dancing and then continue with technique with Caius Giuliano. Couldn't they at least have changed the order? That way, I could've started the day feeling miserable, then proceeded to feeling a little less miserable by dancing with Jasper. I crawled into bed at 11, setting my alarm, and letting the sweet waves of sleep carry me away from the troubles of tomorrow.

Jasper was back in my dreams. This time it wasn't a steamy ballet number we starred in. I can only assume my dreams conformed to my schedule, or some freaky shit like that, because we were moving to the sound of a sensual tango, me in the skimpiest outfit I had ever seen, and Jasper in pants so tight I could've seen his dick I had looked down. And believe me, I wanted to, but my eyes were locked in a vise with his, and everything was just... feelings. I could feel our dance moves, our feet moving in synchronized patterns. The music filled up the room, made us light headed. Our bodies were the body, an entity, muscles and skin and heat, even for the brief moments when we thrust apart. Pressure, touch, breat; tentative hands caressing me, pulling me closer. Me, pulling away, yearning to return, and always looking at him. I wrapped a leg around him, pressing myself even closer to him. Our bodies connected at a hot spot, we wanted friction.

"Jasper..." I breathed unevenly.

"Bella." His voice was husky, just the way I wanted it to sound saying my name

_Wake up in the morning / feeling like ..._

Fuck you, Ke$ha! I hated her with a passion, which made any song of hers the perfect alarm signal. I lunged at my phone, wanting the annoying voice to stop fucking up my perfectly nice Jasper-moment.

Tik Tok finally stopped playing, and I gave my phone a dirty look as if that alone could damn Ke$ha to the seventh circle of hell. I rolled out of bed, beginning to get dressed. I pulled on new tights and a fresh leotard, finishing off with a pair of sweatpants.

When I came out of my room, Alice and Rose were already up. Al tossed me an apple, which I chewed down on while pouring cereals and yoghurt in a bowl.

"Gotta jet," Alice said, heading for the door. "Santi wants us to come in early for some info. I'll see you later."

Rose and I said goodbye, then finished our breakfast in silence. I rinced my bowl, then began stretching a bit by the couch.

"You nervous?" Rose asked, observing me.

"A little," I confessed. "Vincenza and Giuliano first thing in the morning is never fun. Doesn't exactly make it better that Giuliano seemed to have it in for me last semester."

"Just sift whatever he says through the Mean Bullshit-filter, and see what you get. If he actually has a point, we'll work on it together."

I nodded. Rose was right, again. I returned to my room, and meticulously began pulling my hair into a tight ponytail, twisting it and securing it with bobby pins. I packed my school bag and walked out again, taking a bottle of water from the fridge. Rose was not in the living room anymore.

"Rose?" I called out, and steered my steps towards the door. "I'm leaving."

"I'd say 'break a leg', but you might take me seriously!" she called jovially from hers and Alice's room.

I smiled to myself as I exited, hurrying through the corridors and out of the dorm building and into the main building. It felt exhilirating to be back in the game, to be part of the group again, walking down the halls, and knowing that I'd get to participate actively in class. Not too surprisingly, I was the first one to show up for Aro Vincenza's class. Him and Renata were preparing the sound system when I snuck in, and Mr. Vincenza's face lit up when he saw me.

"Miss Swan, so glad you're back with us."

"Thank you, Director Vincenza," I said politely.

"I hope you are ready to get back in the game."

"Absolutely, this day could not have come sooner."

"Very good," Aro Vincenza told me, sounding very satisfied. "I take it you will be partnered with Mr. Hale once again."

I nodded and glanced over at Renata. She looked at me like she was disappointed I was there. It made me feel all smug, and determined to show that hussy what ballroom dancing was supposed to look like. I pulled off my sweatpants, and folded them neatly, placing them and my bag on the floor. There was nothing else to do, so I sat down on the floor, stretching my legs again, wiggling my foot and pointing my toes. Aro Vincenza didn't speak to me, but I caught him glancing at me a few times.

It wasn't long until the studio filled up with people. Most of my classmates said hello, and some even said it was good to have me back. I guessed only a third of them meant it. Then again, I'd probably feel the same way. One person out meant one less to compete against, and ballet dancers are a freakishly competitive bunch.

Jasper arrived last, again, and smiled widely at me when he saw me sitting on the floor.

"Good to see you here," he said, as if it came as a surprise that I was present and dressed for dancing.

"All right, class!" Aro Vincenza called out, clapping his hands together to call the attention of the students. "I hope you all had a pleasant holiday, and that you are ready for another semester. We finished the International Standard dances before Christmas, and I was very impressed by some of you."

He let his gaze wander around the room, and I noticed he looked Jasper's way before continuing:

"During the spring semester, we will focus in the International Latin dances. Some of you might think it is pointless, that the latin dances are nothing like ballet. You could not be more wrong. The latin dances are all about strenght, passion, control of your body, much like ballet is. I am certain that you will find these dances most educational. Now, can anyone tell me which dances are included in the International Latin group?"

A few people, me included, raised their hands.

"Yes, miss Tanner?"

It was the girl from my freshman group, Bree. She had her long, brown hair braided and twisted in a bun.

"Samba, rumba, paso doble, cha cha and jive," she rapidly counted off.

"Correct," Vincenza said. "Just like we worked through the International Standards, we will work through the International Latins one by one. We will begin with the samba. Pair up, and watch as Renata and I work through the basic techniques."

Jasper offered me his hand, and I took it, pulling myself up. We all spread out in a semi-circle, observing our teacher as he and Renata first danced a little samba-number, then broke down the steps and explained the technique. It actually felt kind of wrong to watch Aro Vincenza sway his hips like he did, and even more wrong thinking he did it with Renata, who was way younger than him.

"You ready to get your samba on, Bella?" Jasper asked me when Mr. Vincenza asked us to repeat a series of steps.

I could only nod mutely. Samba was a very bouncy dance with lots of swaying hip movements. I swallowed hard, and settled into stance with Jasper, waiting for Aro Vincenza to count us in. Vincenza nodded to Renata, who pushed the "play"-button, and a catchy song began playing.

"Everybody ready? One, two, three, four."

We began dancing, and I tried to keep my head focused on the steps, the rhythm, the feeling, but fuck, it was hard with Jasper so close and corresponding to every move I made. I began counting silently in my head, I needed to keep myself busy, or the dirty voice would fuck this shit up beyond reason.

"Miss Swan, Mr. Hale."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aro Vincenza circle us, observing.

"Mr. Hale, very nice. Miss Swan, relax a bit, you are tensing up in all the wrong ways."

"Yes, Director Vincenza," I replied automatically.

"Are you counting in your head?"

"Yes..."

"Don't count. I know you have a sense of rhythm. Don't force it, feel it," Aro Vincenza told me.

Feel it. Fuck, if I felt it, I would do something that should not be seen in class.

"Relax, Bella, you're doin' fine," Jasper told me. Of course, he was thinking I was tensed up about class. If he only knew...

I yes'ed and no'ed my way through class. I stopped counting, but held back on the feeling. I couldn't let myself relax, and by the end of class, me and Jasper were the only ones who hadn't been complimented on our progress. I sulkily pulled on my sweatpants, taking a swig of water.

"Miss Swan?"

"Yes, Director Vincenza?"

"Are you sure your foot is all right?" he asked me, sounding concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure. I... I'm just not used to dancing any of the Standard Latins," I hastily apologized.

"Very well. Practice until next time. Let down your hair, so to speak."

"I will."

Like hell I would.

I rushed off to make it to Giuliano's class before the Grinch himself. For the first time since I began, I actually felt excited about technique class, something that I'd normally think of as a sign of insanity. But in Giuliano's class there would be no Jasper, no teacher nagging to let lose. Just plain and simple control, staying in position, being flawless and poised.

I made it there in time to pull of my sweats and go stand by the barre, ignoring the selfsatisfied smiles of the Hell Twins. Caius Giuliano swooped in, taking no notice that I was back on my feet, and commanded us to start warming up. If that's the way he wanted to play, I would be game. I payed neither him nor Alec and Jane any mind, and focused on the warm up exercises. Compared to ballroom class, this was refreshingly clinical. Grace. Bend, stretch, elongate, repeat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good to see class is mostly intact," Giuliano said in a flat voice as he walked around the studio, appraising us.

I discreetly peeked around, quickly and quietly counting in my head. There were two fewer in class today than before Christmas. Someone had obviously had it with Mr. Asshat.

"I hope you have been keeping sharp during the brief break from school..."

It sounded very much like a threat, and sure thing: it was.

"Miss Swan..." he said, stopping by my side. "Back with us again, I see."

"Yes, sir," I said neutrally, looking straight at him.

"If you please, Miss Swan, demi pliés."

"From which position, sir?"

"Go through them all."

He hated me. He must've hated me. Either that, or he loved me and had a very twisted way of showing it. He motioned for me to step forward to a smaller, freestanding barre in the middle of the room. I nodded, walking up to the barre. Whatever mojo I had left from last night's dancing session, please, don't fail me now.

I breathed calmly, collected myself, settled into first position, did the preparing arm movements, then began. I knew I would most likely screw up, but so long as I didn't show any outward annoyance, then maybe Mr. Grinch would keep his wicked tongue in check. I bent my legs, dipped down, and up again. Everyone was looking at me, I didn't even need to peek to know that, and I knew exactly who would be scrutinizing my demi pliés. Still, I took my time, mentally noticing my flaws, but never showing anything. I felt proud of myself for the fact that I could cut myself some fucking slack, because Mr. Giuliano sure as hell wouldn't.

Strangely enough, he didn't critique me when I was done. He appraised me for several seconds, then nodded for me to get back in line. Alec and Jane had their trademark "We're the shit"-smirk on their robotfaces. I wasn't sure how to take Giuliano's silence, and did my best not to mess up the remained of class. I felt safer dancing and testing my foot when polishing technique, and I actually noted that I made some progress.

Of course, Asshat Giuliano had to crash my happy-party.

After he'd dismissed us, I pulled on my sweats, took a swig of water and moved to follow everyone else out of the studio.

"Miss Swan?" Mr. Giuliano spoke when I was almost by the door.

"Yes?" I replied, turning to face him.

"Miss Swan, I am aware that you have had troubles with your foot, but frankly, I expected more from you."

"But sir…"

"No. Injuries are serious, I'll admit to that, but if you are expected to fully recover, that is no excuse to get lazy."

I was stunned. Was he serious? I hadn't been able to physically practice for months! Hypothetical technique classes can only take you so far, if even that. I mutely stared at him, feeling all my mojo dry up.

"Miss Swan, you'd be wise not to come as unprepared as you was today ever again," Caius Giuliano told me coolly.

"Yes, sir." I said the words like they were two separate sentences, then left the studio fuming on the inside.

Dipshit. I gnashed my teeth all the way through French and English. Fucktard. Asshat. Dick-tator. Unprepared, yeah, right. I'd show him prepared. I'd dance the living hell out of him, and the two robot clones. I texted Jasper, Alice and Rose during English: _"Studio, tonight again. Don't stop even if I die."_

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**A/N**: Reviews are gold and makes me feel like my head is not filled with glue!

And yes. I use Ke$ha (Ke-dollar sign-ha - go Figgins!) to wake up in the worning. "Blah Blah Blah" is *very* effective.


	22. Chapter 21: Everybody's Changing

**A/N**: New chapter, yay! Writing block really is the worst, but now it's here. It took a three day long heat wave to get the creative Twilight-juices flowing, but I'd like to think it was worth it. Hopefully, you haven't lost interest in the story. Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter and enjoy this one!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I dream about the gang in tights.

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_Chapter 21: Everybody's Changing_

I could safely say I had not been this determined since the epic fail at that recital when I fell flat on my ass and the entire audience just stared at me, wide eyed. The fight against myself, my clumsiness, paled in comparison to what I was doing right now. I pushed myself, tormenting my body, my mind and my friends with endless repetitions of movements until I could feel the steps and movements as part of my being.

Not that it mattered to Caius Giuliano. In fact, I stopped mattering to him altogether. He passed me by in class, barely even made a note as I called out "present" when he took attendance. I was never called forth to show a particular set of steps, I was never chastised or humiliated. I was air to Caius Giuliano. I was air, and I fought. The twins soon adopted Mr. Giuliano's behavior against me, pretending as if I didn't exist, cutting in on conversations I had with my classmates, not even looking at me. They had no idea I actually appreciated their silence. I mean, before the silent treatment started, I had had my doubts about whether or not the two fiends could even be quiet, or if spewing bullshit was some sort of compulsion or condition for them to live. They were silent, and I took a deep breath, praticing harder. I would crush them.

Alice and Rose got tired of my OCD-like behavior, and three weeks after I recruited them to kick me into shape by any means necessary, they started skipping out on me. They gave me bogus explanations as to why they couldn't come, and doe-eyed "But you'll be fine, right Bella?"-pleas. Jasper, God bless his soul, was the only one who beared with me through my tantrums and terrors. He patiently waited as I cussed and chastised myself (because now that Mr. Giuliano wasn't, I had to do it myself), then helped me through the sequences again and again until I was happy.

I talked to Aro Vincenza and Irina Denali about pointe class, and we agreed I would come in for a "consultation" with Miss Irina the next week, and evaluate my situation. My joy-levels went through the roof, and I marked my calendar and even made a stupid countdown widget on my laptop, counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until my pointe fate would be determined. I took out my pointe shoes every night for that week, putting them on, streching my foot, then taking them off.

Amidst all this, I was trying to keep my Jasperphilia at bay. There was a sort of pattern to it. When we practiced, I had no problems being close to him, and trust me, we were plenty close, but as soon as we were back in Mr. Vincenza's class and had to dance together, my brain became a gutter of dirty thoughts and perverse images. I sweated bullets, and tried to keep my composure, which only resulted in me becoming stiff and off-beat.

"You okay, Bella?" Jasper whispered to me, when we were watching Aro Vincenza and Renata as they showed us a series of new steps.

"Yeah... I... I just... didn't get much sleep," I lied, hoping like hell he didn't hear my racing heart. This was our last week of samba, and I hoped the other latin dances would not be so excruciatingly erotic.

"You should cut yourself some slack, you're makin' incredible progress."

"So incredible that Alice and Rose can't stand to practice with me anymore?"

"They still come... They might just have had an overload. Four-five nights of you bossin' them around is wiggin' them out," Jasper smiled teasingly.

"I'm not... I don't boss them around!" I hissed, while I observed the steps we were supposed to learn.

"I'm sorry, but I beg to differ."

"Then why haven't you bowed out?"

He was just about to answer when Mr. Vincenza ordered us to repeat the steps. I sighed demonstratively, and settled into stance with Jasper. Stupid teacher... Couldn't he have waited for another five seconds or so?

"Just close your eyes, Bella," Jasper whispered. "You know the steps, an' I won't let you trip or look stupid. Just follow my lead, okay?"

It sounded like a line out of some cheesy dance movie. Still, if I had my eyes closed, I wouldn't have to look at Jasper, and looking at him always made my mind come up with more ways to disturb my already fragile focus. I quickly revised the steps in my mind, then closed my eyes. Jasper pulled me a bit closer to him, and I gulped. He was so warm, so soft... Images of me and him, a lot closer than now, skin against skin, lips touching, began creeping out of the shadows of my mind.

"No! No, Bella!" I growled quietly at myself.

The images slowly receded, and I took a deep breath. Focus. Dance. Samba. Aro Vincenza turned on the music and I heard him count us in.

"Sway!" I heard Mr. Vincenza call out. "You cannot be stiff. Mr. Bray, I have told you, Miss Tanner doesn't bite, you need to be closer to each other."

Fred Bray had been paired up with Bree Tanner since we started up again in January. Poor guy had a crush on Bree, and didn't know what to do about it. She was oblivious; apparantly, she had a boyfriend at home, or something. Watching them dance was sort of fun, in a sad sort of way. They were both good dancers, but Fred couldn't get over being so close to Bree when they were dancing together. It made me feel a bit better about myself. The eyes closed-thing worked out pretty well. I was on beat, moving more fluidly. Jasper and his sexy, swaying hips couldn't bother me in the safe darkness.

"Miss Swan, why are you dancing with your eyes closed?"

Only because I thought this could work out... Mr. Vincenza had snuck up on Jasper and me, and my eyes flew open, staring at the director like a deer caught in headlights. I couldn't come up with anything smart to say. In fact, I seemed to have completely lost my grip on the English language.

"It was my idea, director Vincenza," Jasper stepped in, that fucking saint.

Aro Vincenza pursed his lips, looking from Jasper to me and back.

"Very well. Continue," he said, waving his hand. "With eyes open, miss Swan!"

I bit down, not wanting to ruin the day by insulting the director in front of everyone in class.

"You'll be fine," Jasper said, and pulled me back into stance. "We were doin' great. Just look at me, an' you'll be okay."

"That's the problem..." I mumbled, shaking my head.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"It's obviously somethin'..." Jasper tried to coax me.

"It can wait. Vincenza's looking at us. Can you count us in?"

Jasper wasn't at all happy with me, but he counted us in , and we joined the others. I didn't look down, kept my eyes on his face. He tried to have a silent conversations with me, and gave me one of those looks that clearly said "We need to talk". Renee had used it on me plenty of times, and I knew perfectly well how to ignore it. The mere fact that I was dancing helped a lot, too.

The last fifteen minutes of class, we practiced the entire routine we had learned over the weeks. Jasper and I were not the best, but not the worst, either. Bree and Fred tried to make it look like Fred was leading, but it was obvious that Bree was the man, and I saw her whisper and hiss instructions to Fred. I managed to keep my head out of the gutter for most of the routine. During the twirls I couldn't help but ogle Jasper, and my heartbeat picked up. I made a deal with my pervy brain that it was okay to be a perv during the twirls, I would roll with it, but I needed not to suck ass during the rest of the routine. My brain apparantly accepted that deal, because the next time Aro Vincenza passed us, he nodded appreciatively.

"Well done, class!" he commented when we had made it through. "Very promising in deed. Next week we will move on to the cha cha, so come prepared. Class dismissed!"

I rushed for my things, pathetically eager to get to Caius Giuliano's class, where I would be ignored. Unfortunately, Jasper stayed on me like a leech.

"Am I dancing that badly?" he asked outright, cornering me.

"Look, Jasper, I have Giuliano..."

"Mr. Giuliano can wait. What is up with you?"

"It's not you. Or, well, it is, but it's not that you're bad. I'm bad. I'm really, really bad..." I had to cut myself short, before I started saying something that even Emmett would think were badly phrased innuendos.

"Is it your foot? You were doin' great back when we danced the standard ballroom dances," Jasper persisted, blocking my way when I tried to snake past him.

"No. My foot is fine. Miss Denali would not have me come in for a pointe consultation if my foot wasn't fine."

"I'm tryin' really hard here, Bella..."

He was not gonna let this slip, that was for sure. But I was not about to profess my burning desire for him, not there, not now. We couldn't stand there forever, though. Something had to give. Sadly, it was my brain that rebelled.

"You make it hard for me to focus," I heard myself say, and I gave my brain the finger.

"So it is me?"

"It is not. Did I not say I was the one having a hard time focusing. My brain does not want to just dance with you, okay?"

That was the most diplomatic formulation I could give him. It was better than "Oh yeah, you make me all wet and hot when you sway your hips, but please, do not stop doing it".

"You dance just fine when we're doin' ballet," Jasper quickly pointed out.

"Yes, well, ballet is ballet."

"You are makin' no sense at all.

"Get used to it."

"An' you're holdin' out on me."

"Now you're just imagining things, Jasper," I lied, hopefully in a convincing way. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm officially late for Giuliano's class. As much as he hates me, he will hate me even more for being late."

He didn't look happy, but let me pass. I picked up my shoes and was out the door like lightning and sprinted down the halls to get to Giuliano's class. By some minor miracle, the asshat himself had not showed up yet when I burst into the studio, tossing my bag and shoes up against the wall and almost tripping over my own feet when I pulled off my sweats. I had just put on my flats and hurried over to the barre when Caius Giuliano entered. I was panting quite loudly, but if he noticed, he didn't show it.

"Warm up," was his only command, and then began taking attendance.

I was ignored all through the lesson, with the minor exception of when we were supposed to each do a grand jeté through the room. He called forth every other student by name, but when it was my turn, he simply nodded at me to get going. I gave him a nod in return and did a pretty kick ass grand jeté. Of course, there was no comment, neither praise nor critique. I fell back in line, and continued working my ass off in silence.

The rest of the day went by quickly. I dozed through History and French, and enjoyed stretching my limbs in gymanstics, a course that had started when I got back from winter break. When I walked back to the dorm, this day didn't feel nearly as shitty as it had earlier. I had almost managed to forget about being cornered by Jasper after ballroom class, and I looked forward to lie down for a bit and maybe watch a movie.

Fat fucking chance.

Rosalie was on me like a cheetah when I was inside the door.

"I talked to Jasper today," she said, wasting no time on hellos.

She had the kind of tone where she would just continue talked regardless of what I said, so I decided not to waste my breath. Of course the Jasper issue had to come back and bite me in the ass.

"He was very confused," she continued.

"Really? Did you call CNN about it? This may just be the scoop they're looking for."

"No, but I might as well. What happened with the two of you?"

"Who said I was involved?" I rebutted, sort of hurt that she automatically assumed I was to blame.

"Let's see... A) You've got a crush on him so big it can practically be seen from the international space station. And B) amidst all the yammering nonsense, he actually asked if something was going on with you, and that you were acting really fruity today."

"Fruity? He actually said fruity?"

"For fuck sake, Bella! Now is not the time to get hung up on wording! My brother is confused. He is never confused, okay? I get confused, Jasper doesn't, so when he gets confused, I get even more confused. Can you see how that isn't good?"

"I got it by the first 'confused', Rose. The other four were completely redundant..." I muttered sourly.

Alice chose to enter at that precise moment. She looked from me to Rosalie, taking in my sour expression and Rose's irritation.

"What's going on? Do I need to stage and intervention?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"Jasper is confused," Rose sighed despondently.

Alice immediately turned to me and looked at me accusingly.

"Now what did you do?"

"I did nothing!" I exclaimed defensively.

"Yeah, that's fucking likely..." Al muttered, dropped her bag and then dragged me over to the couch. "Spill."

"There's nothing to spill. I'm a little off my game with the ballroom dancing," I offered as an explanation, working around the Jasper-angle.

"Really? Why?" Rosalie asked, standing in front of the couch with her arms crossed.

"I don't know... The latin dances are so different from the standards and from ballet."

"You are such a lousy liar, Bella."

"What, it's tr..." I began, ready to worm my way out of this conversation like Houdini in an oiled bikini. Then I saw the look on Rose's face, and I realized I had talked myself into a trap.

"Jasper told on me," I stated indignantly.

"Oh, he sang like the proverbial canary, and he didn't even know it," Rose affirmed, then continued : "Seriously, though, you two need to be locked in a room and not be let out until bodily fluids have been exchanged."

"Amen, sister!" Alice chirped, raising her right hand.

"No, I will not do that! You think I wanna scar him for life?"

"Oooh..." My two friends made all kinds of kissy and fuck noises. Alice practically threw herself at me, snaking her arms and legs around me. I was so glad Emmett wasn't there, that sex manic would've made things so much worse.

"You do realize you just confirmed that you want to jump her brother's bones, don't you?" Alice said a few minutes later when the noise-parade finally subsided, and nodded towards Rosalie.

"I did not!" I protested, fully aware that she might be right.

"I suggest you two hump it out in a room, and you say you don't want to scar him for life. Try weaseling your way out of that one," Rose countered contentedly.

"Fine! I admit, Jasper is hot, and if social protocol wouldn't prohibit it, I would probably try humping the living crap out of him in every class. He is a fine piece of ass, and really, his ass i a-class. You happy now?"

There was a beat of silence. Alice just gaped at me, but Rose was quick on the rebound:

"I should be strangely appalled right now, but fuck me, if it isn't a relief to hear you say that. Go ahead, you have my blessing to do your thing with him."

"Rose, he is your brother, twin brother!" Fucking Christ, he's not some stud at a cattle auction," I groaned, sorely regretting opening my mouth wihout having my brain filter turned on.

"Yes, he is my twin, which means he's practically me, but with a dick. I'm good, which means he's good..."

"God, I can't listen to you anymore..." I pushed Alice off of me and marched off towards my room.

"You want us to set something up..?" Alice called after me.

I skidded to a halt, and turned on my heel to face them. My voice was grave serious when I replied:

"Under no circumstances will anything we've talked about here leave this room, okay? You will not tell, hint, sign or blink in morse code about my feelings for Jasper, not to him or anyone else that might relay the information to him. Are we clear?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" they both responded, saluting me.

"I came here to dance," I continued, "so I will fucking dance, okay? My pointe consultation is next week, and I don't want any fucked up surprises or disasters. I don't care if the world is coming to an end, it's not ending before I'm done dancing."

"Jeez, chill out..." Alice muttered, raising her hands to show she was out of the conversation.

"Maybe when you have some free time in between your awesome dancing, you should try looking up fun in the dictionary," Rose chipped in.

"Oh, bite me..."

I went into my room and changed out of my clothes. I put on my PJ's, turned on my laptop and spent the rest of the night watching _Planet Terror_.

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**A/N**: Review and make me happy!

I will handle the "pointe consultation" in the next chapter, but I need help from any ballet dancers reading this fic. Would you be ever so kind and maybe send a few suggestions my way about what should be said/done during this consultation? I feel pointe work is such a vital and extremely beautiful part of ballet, and I don't want to mess it up with inaccurate and/or bad writing. Either leave suggestions in your reviews or send me a PM!


	23. Chapter 22: Bella Swan, Barbie Doll

**A/N**: Hey everybody! Took me longer to get the chapter finished. My grandma was admitted to the hospital a few weeks ago, so there's been a lot of worry going on. Thankfully, my grandma is a really tough lady, she's feeling better and wants to come home. I want to be like her when I turn 95. :) On a sadder note: One of my fiancé's family's cats got run over by a car two days ago. It was a very sad moment, and I urge each and everyone to watch the roads and not send any kitties to kitty-heaven. People love their cats.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight. Smeyer does, we all know that.

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Chapter 22: Bella Swan, Barbie Doll

"Point your right foot... good. Now your left foot."

Irina Denali, my imposing and demanding pointe teacher was kneeling by my feet, watching as I went through one test after the other to see if I was ready to assume my pointe classes. I had formally been "invited" to the consultation in one of the smaller studios, and was asked to bring both my flats and my pointe shoes. Mr. Vincenza and Mr. Giuliano were both present, as had Maria, the physio hag, been. She had briefly examined both my feet, then declared that my injury had healed well and that she deemed my recovery most successfull. She had then excused herself and left the room without another word. That was one person I was happy I wouldn't have to see again. That fucking chip on her shoulder that she hauled around was getting tiresome. Unfortunately, she was very good at what she did, and the Volturi Academy probably paid her well for her services.

I had hoped that it would be over once Maria had left, but oh no. Irina Denali wanted to form her own opinion before letting me back en pointe. She'd had me roll on my feet, from the balls on my feet up to toestand and then back down. I had to repeat that slowly ten or fifteen times while she observed my feet, occasionally putting pressure on my left foot to see if she could feel anything suspicious. Once I was done with that, I had a fairly gruesome cramp building up in both my feet. I wiggled them a bit, and was then asked to point them. Great. I would be walking around like a fucking crippled penguin the rest of the day.

I could feel my muscles cramping and tightening painfully in my left foot as Miss Denali inspected it from every fucking angle.

"Very good," she uttered at last, and I relaxed my foot, inwardly giving a sigh of relief. "Would you please put on your flats and do a couple of fouettes for us. First on your right foot, then on your left."

I gave Miss Irina and the two directors a strained smile, and took out my flats from my bag, self-consciously putting them on. I had done some warm-up routines before the consultation, so I only tried to relax my limbs, doing a few quick toestands and stretches before getting ready to do the fouettes. I tried to block out the rest of the world and find my inner happy ballet place. I knew fouettes, I had done them over and over again (though admittedly not so mych the last few months). My body remembered, knew instinctively what to do. I positioned myself into ... position, then kicked off, pulling up and stretching out my left leg as I spun around. One second the faces of my own little jury was in my field of view, and the next they swivelled out of it, only to retrun again almost before my brain had registered they were gone. I kept on spinning, careful to keep my eyes trained on a spot above Caius Giuliano's head so as not to lose balance.

After five spins, Irina Denali was satisfied, nodding appreciatively before asking me to switch support leg. Again, I obeyed her, but this time with a growing sense of anxiety in my stomach. I wasn't entirely sure why. Maria had said my foot was fine, and I had unmistakeable proved that to myself for weeks as I had practiced with Jasper, Alice and Rosalie. Still, there was something extremely nerve wracking about having to prove to my extremely scrutinizing teachers that I was the little ballerina that fucking could. I took a deep steadying breath before kicking off again.

One spin. Two spins. Three, four and five spins. Six spins. It was getting harder and harder to focus on that obscure spot, as I tried scanning Irina Denali's face inbetween the spins.

"Very good, Miss Swan."

Ten spins. Ten fucking spins! My head was swimming. I was okay. I had done it.

"Put on your pointe shoes, please."

Fuck... This would never end. I began to think they enjoyed keeping me literally on my toes before giving me the green light. Nevertheless, I took off my flats, dug out my shiny new pointe shoes and laced them on, praying like hell I wouldn't fall this close to the finish line.

"Step over to the barre," Irina Denali commanded. "Go through the warm up routines we usually do in class.

Well, at least I didn't have act like a human spinning top for a little while. The warm-up went pretty good. In a flash, Miss Denali was back to being my teacher, and with my back against the two directors, this part felt like regular class with my teacher complementing and correcting me. Then Caius Giuliano had to come poop all over my happy little moment by loudly clearing his throat, a sure sign that he wanted to get this over with.

"All righ, Miss Swan..." Irina Denali began, and I could hear that she was a little annoyed that Mr. Giuliano tried to rush her. "Fifth position, demi plié, then en pointe."

I nodded, gripped the barre with both hands. My grip was so tight that my knuckles turned white. My heart was beating like a piston. This was it. I settled into fifth position and dipped down into a demi plié. I kept myself in a perfect demi for a few seconds, just to rub it in Giuliano's face, then rose en pointe. I had been out of my pointe classes so long that going en pointe almost felt like it was the first time I did it. It was a exhilirating sensation, a combination of strength and being lighter than air.

"Good. Down, demi plié and up again"

I lowered myself, did another immaculate demi plié and went en pointe again. This was repeated another ten-fifteen times, and for every time I got to go en pointe, I felt stronger and more confident than ever. Miss Denali asked me to do couru, and I basked in the thrumming sound of my feet hitting the floor at high speed.

God, I love ballet.

After the couru, I was asked to do fouette turns en pointe, and though it meant spinning around again, I gladly performed the move, just because I could. I was fucking back in business for real, and Caius Giuliano could go suck an egg. I half-listened as Irina Denali gave me permission to resume pointe class, and only focused on looking intently on Mr. Giuliano, giving him the sweetest "the bitch is back"-smile. He looked like he had bit down on a dozen lemons.

I practically danced out of the studio, almost knocking Jasper over in the process.

"Now that is how I like seein' you," he commented, as we disentangled. "Consultation went good, I presume?"

"I'm back!" I trilled excitedly, doing a stupid showy gesture.

"Just what I told you months ago."

We momentarily fell into silence as Caius Giuliano and Irina Denali exited the studio. Giuliano still locked pissed, while Miss Denali gave us a brief smile and a nod.

"Okay, I admit, I was maybe overreacting..." I resumed once they were out of earshot.

"Maybe? Do the words 'I'm obsolete' and 'I might as well pack' ring a bell?"

I playfully punched his arm, and a jolt of electricity ran through me. Quickly, I pulled back my arm, and waited for the dirty Jasper-sequences to begin.

Nothing.

Maybe my brain was too busy being happy to act like a complete perv. Whatever it was, I was happy, and wanted to climb to the roof and fucking yell it so everyone in the city could hear me.

"Bella..." Jasper began, sounding a tad more serious.

"Oh! I gotta tell Alice! And Rose!" I gushed, now jumping for joy.

"They're in class."

"Shit! I'm late for mine! Laurent is going to kill me!"

"But Bella..."

"I'm sorry. We'll talk later, okay? I really need to not be too late for French. I'll see you, Jasper."

I took off like lightning, zooming through the halls until I got to French class. I had a big fucking grin on my face when I entered, last of all, and didn't even mind that Laurent, the teacher, gave me a pointed look as I rushed in and took my seat. I didn't care that I sucked at the popquiz, mixing up verbs I had been able to conjugate flawlessly just yesterday.

I dreamed my way through class, planning all the jumps and steps I would practice tonight, en pointe. Nevermind if Jasper, Alice and Rose wouldn't join me, I could do this by myself. I was back on top. I hardly heard as Laurent dismissed class.

My exhilaration contined as I pranced back to the dormatories, doing little pirouettes, again just because I could. I dropped my keys twice before I managed to get the in the lock and open the door. Alice and Rose were sitting on the couch, looking like they had waited for me.

"I'm back in pointe class!" I all but screamed as I tossed my bag to the side.

Alice began clapping her hands, and Rose beamed at me.

"We told you so!" Alice said, laughing.

"How was it?" Rose asked. "Were they hard on you?"

"Giuliano was his usualy charming self. I bet he wished I would fall flat on my ass so he could kick me out of school. What is his deal, really? Irina Denali was the same as always. I really look forward to getting back in her pointe class again."

"Uh-huh. Anything else happen?"

I furrowed my brow. The way they asked that particular question immediately put me on my guard.

"I sucked ass in French class, and probably made the entire dormatory think I'm a lunatic," I said, guessing they were fishing for info on me bumping into Jasper.

Alice huffed, pursing her lips. Bingo. So fucking easy to read, the pair of them.

"Okay," Rose said, getting up from the couch. "You're obviously on to us, so why prolong the inevitable. Bella, you're going on a date tonight."

Two seconds of silence. Then I burst out laughing, because the idea of me going on a date with anyone was slightly absurd.

"Why is she laughing?" Alice asked Rose, regarding me with mild suspicion.

"She is not taking us seriously."

"Bella, really, you're going on a date. With Jasper." Alice cocked an eyebrow. "There, that ought to shut her up."

And it did. What the flying fuck? Okay, me on a date, that's pretty much a joke any day. Me on a date with Jasper? Cosmic impossibility. The perv-center in my brain would have a field day.

"No," was my spontaneous response.

"Yes," Alice and Rose said simultaneously.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Hell, no!

"Fuck, yes!"

Fuck them... They were trying to pimp me out. Or Rose was trying to pimp her brother out. Or both. Neither alternative was funny.

"Did you play matchmaker?" I asked dryly. "Because that is not funny."

"Yes, we did. Sort of. And you can't do anything about it. You, Jasper and an activity of your choice. It's gonna happen, whether you want it to or not," Alice responded.

"And you felt you needed to do this all Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?"

"You can be absurdly stubborn."

"Are you out of your fucking minds?" I exploded." Are you two really fucking incapable of doing anything without going behind people's backs? I know you mean well, and all that shit, but this is fucking demeaning. Could you, please, try to access the sympathetic side of yourselves, if you fucking have one anymore! It's enough to have been hijacked by the directors, I am not a Barbie doll that you can dress up and play with... and neither is Jasper, for that matter. I'm sure he'd find this just as insulting and over all shitty."

Okay, so maybe, hypothetically, I would want to go on a date with Jasper. Okay, probably. But, I didn't want Rose and Alice to pimp me out, and I certainly not didn't want to go through the tedious ordeal of getting ready only to be stopped by Alice, who didn't approve of my attire.

"Actually..." Rose answered fleetingly, trying to look anywhere but at me.

"What?" I demanded.

"He sort of asked us if we could... set this up. Y ou know, for him. I'm a sap when it comes to him, so I said yes."

Alice nodded fervently in agreement.

"Okay, at what point did I shift out of reality and into and alternate one? Stop blaming Jasper for your lack of respect for privacy."

They both snickered, and Alice picked up her cell and pushed some buttons, showing me a text sent about five minutes ago: "U think u'll hve her rdy in 20? /J-"

My world turned upside down. They weren't kidding.

"Holy f..."

"Yeah, yeah, we know. 'Insert chosen profanity here'," Rose interrupted me. "Now sit down and quit bitching, Cinderella, you're going to the ball."

"What are you going to do with me?" I automatically took a step back.

Alice was already circling me like a culture, crooning as she went, with a really fucking scary grin plastered on her face:

"We're going to make your pre-e-e-tt-y-y-y..."

Yeah. That was positively scary as fuck, and I was ready to run at first opportunity, as if the devil himself was after me. Thinking about it, maybe he had already gotten to me, 'cause Al looked pretty possessed from where I was standing.

"Parley?" I begged whiningly, wanting to escape the no doubt horrendous and intensive makeover session that now awaited me.

"Nice try, Captain Jack," Alice leered at me, before grabbing me and pushing me down onto a chair that Rose had pulled out. "But this will not be the day we remember as the day Bella Swan weaseled her way out of a date."

"Hey, girl with..." Fuck. I couldn't even use my foot as a scapegoat anymore. Gods of justice, have some fucking mercy...

I got primped and pampered and threatened with prolonged torture everytime I moved or even gave the slightest whiny noise. I got scoffed at everytime I told them not to go overboard. Alice asked me if I had anything else in my closet that was pretty (she clearly meant something akin to the dress I had worn to Rose and Em's wedding), and I said no. There was no way in hell I would go on a date with Jasper in a black dress and whatever kind of torture shoes my two fiendish friends would strap me into. Al was not happy with my answer, and counted to ten. Rose rolled her eyes and promised Alice that they could borrow something from her closet. I groaned. Alice cheered.

The only positive thing was that Alice and Rose had promised to have me ready in time, which meant they had to cut the torture short. However, they had worked on me with Borg-like efficiency. Alice had straightened my hair, going on and on about how I really needed to wear my hair down more often. I didn't even try to tell her that I did, whenever I wasn't in class. Rose had taken charge of putting makeup on me. I still hadn't been allowed to see my face, but judging by the copious amount of product used, I was sure I looked like a street walker, or maybe a Barbie-version of one. To my great relief, I did have something to say about my outfit. I vetoed every skimpy, short dress they pulled out of Rose's closet (and they were surprisingly many). Rose and Alice refused to let me wear jeans and a tanktop, in my book a perfectly acceptable date-outfit. When time began running out I haphazardly pointed to the first dress I could find that wouldn't make me look like a complete ho; a simple off-white cotton dress with a wide skirt and short sleeves.

"Really?" Rose asked, pulling out the dress. "It's kind of... well, bland."

"Tick, tock," I simply said, and Rosalie rolled her eyes.

I was handed the dress, and thanked my lucky star that I actually got to dress myself. Alice whined as I pulled the dress over my head, and shimmed it down, until it fit. I was handed a pair of black ballerinas, and Alice handed me a wide, black belt and a small black purse.

"Your phone, keys and a lipgloss is already in there," she said, while I fastened the belt. "And put the belt higher up, it will look better."

I sighed dramatically, re-did the belt and then took the purse, looking through it.

"No money?" I asked confusedly.

"Like any good Southern gentleman, Jasper will pay for dinner," Rose explained, with a crooked smile. "If he doesn't, you kick him until he does."

"You are shameless."

A knock on the door put an end to the banter, and hurriedly, my two dorm mates ushered me to the door, than rushed into their room, shutting the door. Nice, left to fend for myself. I shook my head, and opened the door.

"Hi," Jasper said, smiling as he lowered his fist, apparantly having meant to knock again.

He was more handsome than I had ever seen him. Dark, worn jeans, a white t-shirt with a The Clash-print and a black blazer.

"Hey," I replied, sounding like a swooning moron.

"You look real' pretty."

"Yes, well, your sister and cousin didn't give me much of an option..."

He snickered, and for some reason I blushed. He then extended his hand, and I could feel my face getting even redder.

"Shall we?"

I nodded, afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would say something incredibly fucking stupid. I put my hand on his arm, and the butterflies in my stomach began doing somersaults. This could either be very good, or extremely bad. Before the door closed behind us, I thought I heard a high five from Rose and Alice's room. Well, at least someone's rooting for me.

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**A/N**: I didn't get any tips for the consultation, so please, do tell me if I completely effed it up. Give me pointers in case I need to rewrite, and I'll do it. As always: review and make me happy. :)


	24. Chapter 23: Heat of the Moment

**A/N**: Yay, another chapter and it's the one I would like to believe people have been waiting for! Bella and Jasper on a date. It was so much fun to write this, which is why I took my time doing it. I wanted it to be perfect, but not too perfect, fun but now without some oomph. Hmm. Read and see for yourselves. You are all awesome.

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Twilight. But they do look good in tights.

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_23. Heat of the Moment_

"I'm sorry."

"Jasper, you've apologized five times already, and we haven't even gotten our pizza."

Jasper, feeling bad about setting the Rose and Alice-trap for me, had apologized (fucking right) all the way to the quirky little pizza place where we now waited for our pizza. Oddly enough, I hadn't been allowed to look at the menu, or even order, but had been told Jasper had already ordered for us. I had asked him how he could be sure I'd like what he'd ordered, but he only gave a cryptic smile in return.

"Well, I'll say this for my sister an' cousin, they did an amazing job. You look..."

"Out of place? Ridiculous? Weird?" I suggested, squirming a bit.

"Amazing," Jasper finished, giving me a long look.

God, I was such a dork. Had I been Seven of Nine, I would've run a full diagnostic. Really, Bella? You're on a date with Sex on Gorgeous Legs, getting complemented, and you shoot the compliments down like fucking clay pidgeons? I tried telling myself that Dork-me was better than Raging Pervert-me.

"So, you're back in Miss Irina's good graces. Must be nice."

"She gave me the green light, that was all I was hoping for."

"I told you." He smiled a sincere and melting smile, making my stomach do backflips. I returned his smile with one that was supped to be flirty and demure, but probably looked more like I was Frankenstein's monster who just had a stroke.

"I heard Giuliano was there," Jasper continued, taking a sip of water.

"And what a ray of sunshine he was," I replied sarcastically. "Seriously, what is his deal? Is he pissed he doesn't get to prance around in leotards and tutus?"

Jasper almost snorted his water through his nose, coughing like a madman, while trying not to laugh too loudly.

"That is a very, very bad picture you jus' put in my head, Bella."

From that moment, a disturbing portion of the conversation centered around whether or not Caius Giuliano was a bitter closet crossdresser. Frankly, I'm surprised I managed to eat my food, which turned out to be one of the pizzas me, Alice and Rosalie had ordered for the cryfest last semester. I found it cute that he had somehow clued out where we had ordered the pizza from.

Our pizzas slowly disappeared from our plates. We talked about more ballet, how psyched I was to have a clean bill of health, and whether or not Fred would ever get the balls to fess up to Bree about his feelings for her, or if Mr. Vincenza would kick him out of class first. Jasper told me about the projects the sophomores had to plan, choreograph and perform at the end of the semester.

"I am so far behind," he confessed. "I'm gettin' nowhere. I've got a general idea, but that's about it."

"And the general idea is..?" I asked, thinking that I, the lowly freshman, might be able to help.

"Well... I'll dance... An' that's it. That's what I've got so far."

We both laughed at his very general idea. Boy was he screwed in every way possible...

_Well, not every way..._

Fuck. Raging Perv-Bella had come to life. Not good, not fucking good.

"Maybe I could help with that," I said seductively, cocking my eyebrow.

Wait, what? Seductively? Perv-me was clearly out for blood. I never did seductive or sultry, not like this. And the eyebrow-bit? Definitely not something I usually did. Or did I?

"I may take you up on that offer," Jasper replied, and I thought I imagined him sounding just as suggestive as I had.

I didn't, however, imagine his foot bumping into mine under the table. A shock of electricity shot through my body, sending sparkling shivers down my spine. Perv-Bella stirred again inside me, and if I didn't get the situation under control, shit would get horizontal faster than I could do courus.

"Are you hungry for dessert?" Jasper asked, and Perv-Bella threw me a picture of her idea of dessert. It involved naked bodies and hot fudge sauce.

I swallowed hard, reluctantly willing away the steamy picture.

"Yeah, sure. Dessert sounds good," I said in a clipped tone, battling the steamy scenarios.

"I was hopin' you'd say that."

A beat of silence, then my mind came to a full stop. The way he said that, so smug and satisfied... I tried to analyze the situation. What could possibly be fucked up by dessert? A perfectly nice, semi-awkward dinner, with that good pizza I'd had during the cryfest, when we...

Oh. Fuck.

He wouldn't.

I stared Jasper down, and his lopsided grin told me everything.

_Oh, yes. He fucking would._

When the repulsive circle of dough landed in front of me, my upchuck reflexes kicked in, and I was ready to jump Jasper and asphyxiate him with the pizza. To make matters worse, that hot son of a frostbitten bitch had had the nerve of ordering me the Yuck-pizza and a large piece of brownie for himself.

"Eat it and weep, Swan," he snickered, grinning wickedly.

Fucking prick.

The delicious smell of brownie wafted towards me, teasing my nostrils. Oh, I would eat. I would eat, not stab him, and then not give a fuck if I sexually accosted him on our way back home, because this meant war. I gave Jasper a dark look, keeping eye contact as I cut a piece of the dessert pizza, speared it on my fork and put it in my mouth, forcing myself to chew. The taste of honey, blackberries and pear assaulted my senses, telling me I should enjoy the sweet, savoury chunks, but I was too aware of what I was eating, and I had to force myself to swallow. I soldiered on, eating piece by piece while Jasper teased me relentlessly with the brownie.

It eventually turned into some sick game, where we both tried to one-up each other on who could eat their dessert in the most sensuous, suggestive way. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised, if some old person had done the classical "I'll have what she's having"-bit from _When Harry Met Sally_. Personally, I'd like to think I won the game, hands down.

"You were so not being fair," I whined an hour later when we hopped into a cab to go back to Volturi Academy.

"Oh, no? From my perspective, we're even-Steven now," Jasper rebutted, closing the door and giving the cabbie the address.

"Come on! You did not have to suffer through your sister's and your cousin's torturous methods to make me pretty."

"I've lived with them all my life, you think I haven't been victimized?"

"You're a guy. It's not the same. Trust me, it was scary."

"Really? You make it sound like something out of a horror story," Jasper said amusedly.

"Alice looked possessed. That's all I'm saying."

"Well, she does have a tendency to go overboard," he remarked pensively.

I huffed indignantly. Slightly overboard, my ass...

"She needs a hobby. Or a boyfriend. Or a lover. Or all of the above," I said gruffly. "I don't get it. Speaking totally objectively, she's hot. She should have a bunch of guys trailing after her, wanting to be her someone."

"I think she has, they're jus'... intimidated by her... extroverted personality."

"So, in translation: her wacky, impulsive ways are scaring the shit out of her potential suitors. Well, not everyone. Felix can keep up with her pretty good, whenever she's not shoving her tits in his face during DDR, that is. Are the two of them..? You know..?"

"Maybe. I don' know. Alice visited Rose a lot last year. Felix was bein' obnoxious, so I told him I'd turn his nuts into a hackey sack if he ever talked about tappin' my cousin's ass ever again," Jasper reminisced and grinned at the last part.

"That's harsh..." I snickered, imagining Jasper with a hackey sack. I got as far as Jasper in shorts, showing off his abs, and that was it.

"There are only so many times I can take hearin' about tappin' asses, an' when my cousin or sister's involved, my level of tolerance is even lower."

The cab rolled onwards through the city. It was still chilly outside, the kind of chilly you can almost see in the air. There's that certain something that just screams "cold". I found myself leaning up against Jasper in the backseat, while our cabbie hummed along to REO Speedwagon in the front. His singing voice (or lack thereof) left much to be desired.

"I want revenge," I blurted out as we stepped out in front of the looming gates of Volturi Academy not five minutes later.

"For the pizza? Wow, you're really hatin' that stunt..."

Jasper stepped closer to me, his eyes sparkling rougishly. I could feel the warmth of his body saturing from him.

I wasn't really out after revenge on him, because really, leaving that disgusting excuse of a pizza for him, Felix and Peter had been mean. Fine, I was still pissed as fuck that he teased me with the brownie, and I would definitely get him back for that. But the person I really wanted revenge on was Alice. I was way out of my league with Rose. She could take bullshit like nobody's business, and besides; messing with newlyweds was just not smart. But Alice... I could raise a little hell there. I was all but ready to start plotting with Jasper, but him misunderstanding me and being so lovely threw me off my guard.

"I, um... I..."

But I couldn't find the words to say what I should say. I was suddenly very aware of myself and my surroundings. I felt the cold creep up along my legs, my toes already numb. Stupid shoes. I remembered I was wearing a dress, and wondered if I looked stupid, because I still hadn't caught a glimpse of myself. Jasper's breath came out as thin wisps of smoke in the chilly air, his teal eyes sparkling like the frost that covered the ground. His voice was husky, warm and velvety when he spoke:

"Can I make it up to you?"

He took another step towards me. I didn't move an inch.

"I know there's no mistletoe here, but maybe I could offer you a goodnight kiss?"

I nodded mutely, I simply couldn't come up with an intelligent reply. As soon as the words "kiss" rolled off his lips, my mind was purged of everything, save for one thing: a yearning. I wanted him to kiss me. I could vaguely remember the kiss at Macy's, how it had felt. His smooth face came ever closer to mine, and I slightly puckered my lips in anticipation. This time, I wouldn't fight it.

Our lips touched, his soft against my chapped. Or at least mine felt embarrassingly chapped in comparison. Then, there was pressure, a tentative peck, a request for more. I slowly parted my lips, showing him I wouldn't defy him. Jasper slid his tongue into my mouth. He still tasted of the brownie, the one I had so bitterly wanted. Finally, the sweetness of the honey, the pears and the blackberries found a component that completed the void. We tasted each other, tongues massaging, teasing, wanting more. My cheeks burned, and I pulled myself closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, fiddling with stray locks of his hair. His hands found the small of my back, fighting their way under the edge of my coat. The cotton dress felt like the thinnest silk under his wandering hands. A low moan escaped me through the kisses. I couldn't tell if Perv-me was finally getting what she wanted.

Whatever it was, I didn't want to stop. Talk about getting what you wish for.

The heat from my face spread like wildfire through my body, settling like so many times before between my thighs. My knees turned to jelly when I felt Jasper move his hands from my back down towards the hem of the dress. So much for being a gentleman on the first date... His fingerstips slowly trailed upwards under the skirt of the dress. God, I couldn't even remember what kind of underwear I had on.

"Bella..." Jasper mumbled, his hand only inches away from my ass.

What happened next made me want to find Kismet and punch that motherfucker in the throat. I was like a cat in heat, Jasper trailing chill-inducing kisses down my neck, while almost grabbing my ass, and what happens?

Suddenly, Jasper snickered, whispering: "Shouldn't that be me?"

"What?" I mumbled, still in my own little bubble of Horny.

"I believe you're vibratin', dear Bella."

Oh, yes, my phone was vibrating away in my coat pocket. Jasper, with his very advantageous hand and arm position had felt it. I had put my phone on quiet mode before we entered the pizza place, because I didn't want Alice or Rose to...

Oh, muffins.

I had Rose's dress on. I was basically having foreplay with Rosalie's twin brother while wearing her dress. I was more than a little grossed out by that, and my steam cooled down kinda fucking fast. I disentangled myself from Jasper, his hand sliding out from under the dress. I pulled out the phone and dodged the call without checking the ID. Whoever it was would get hell for killing my buzz. Then again, I had been saved from doing the dirty with Jasper in Rose's dress.

"So..." I said, trying to sound neutral, "that was a good goodnight kiss." Lamelamelamelame!

"We can pick up where we left off..." Jasper drawled, planting light kisses on my neck.

I smiled like a damned fool, then reminded myself of the creep-factor (and the sad fuck who'd called me) and took a step back.

"Look, I really think we should call it a night. I had a great time, despite the gross pizza." Jasper looked at me, clearly wondering if he'd done something wrong. "See, the thing is, you're kissing me to kingdom come, and I'm wearing one of your sister's dresses, and I could think of better things to wear while being reduced to a puddle of goo, and with that said, you probably won't kiss me ever again..."

He shut me up with another long kiss, not as lustfilled as the previous, but sweet and reassuring.

"Yes, you could be wearin' somethin' else than my sister's dress. I apologize for almost reducin' you to goo. I will not apologize for the pizza. An' I just kissed you again."

"Well... um... That's good. So, um... Goodnight, I guess."

Fucking brain. I hate you.

Jasper gave me a chaste, extremely gentlemanly peck on the cheek, and offered me his arm as we walked to the dorms. As he turned left and I right, he gave my hand a light squeeze, mumbling: "Goodnight, Bella".

"'Night, Jasper..."

I wobbled the short way to the dorm, and found a note taped to the door. Alice and Rose, the little twerps, had gone out of their way to lend me some privacy. According to the note, they had gone out for pizza with Emmett and a friend, but who knew where they actually were, if they were lurking in some dark corner just so they could see in case Jasper followed me to the door and kissed me and God knows what. I ripped down the stupid note, unlocked the door, stepping inside. I immediately pulled off Rose's dress, folding it haphazardly and left it on the couch armrest.

What a night. I found myself smiling like the complete moron I was, remembering way too much from kissing Jasper. What if my phone hadn't interrupted us? Would I be pressed up against the wall outside campus with Jasper doing unspeakable, but oh, so pleasurable things to me? Would I be moaning, shouting his name into the night? Fuck if I knew. Some heat still lingered between my legs, and anger flared up simply by imagining all that could have been.

Fuck you, intrusive caller.

Before I knew it, I was browsing through my phone, clicking my way into the Missed calls-directory, pushing the Call-button. One signal. Two signals.

"Hey, Bells!"

"Jake!" I shrieked.

"Jeez, nice to hear from you, too," he muttered sardonically.

"You fucking cockblocking meathead, what the fuck!"

"Wait, what?"

"God, you are such a prick!"

"Hey, I'm Shaggy, Bella. Don't hate on me. I just called..."

"Yeah, you called, at the fucking worst time imaginable," I spat venomously.

"You do know you're not making any sense, right?" Jake pointed out, sounding confused.

"Should I make it clear, huh? Okay. You did to me what Leah did to you after you disengaged your brain and went to hang with Sam."

Fucking Jake. Any other time I would've been happy to hear from him. But now? Hell no. To make things worse, that moron was slow on the uptake. I counted silently to five before he finally let out a long, knowing "Oh...", followed by a sheepish apology that I, for the most part, ignored.

"Bella, come on! You know I didn't do it on purpose. How the hell was I suppsed to know you had a date? It's not like you put out a public statement about it," Jake told me pointedly. "I mean, where have you been the last couple of weeks? It's like you dropped off the face of the earth."

Okay, ouch. When Jake started complaining, things were bad, like, really bad. He could take much of the shit that came flying at him, but when enough was enough, he let people know. I sighed.

"Look, you caught me at a bad time. You're still a fucking cockblocker, but my immediate need to kick your ass has passed. I just need to sleep this off. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll be waiting."

"Yeah, bye, Jake."

"Bella?" he said as I was about to end the call.

"Yes?"

"Sorry if I completely messed up your night."

"Goodnight, Jake."

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**A/N**: Soooo..? Good? Bad? Worse than bad? Review and let me know!


	25. Chapter 24: The Day After

**A/N**: I hate it when Life intervenes. Of all the rotten luck, I managed to get an inflamed toe, so I've been in a lot of pain the past week, which only ended after I (finally!) got a prescription for antibiotics. My toe looks like a toe again, and I've been able to finish this long overdue chapter. I hope you will all think it was worth the extra wait. Fair warning: my lectures at uni are starting up again, and as I'm supposed to be working on my Master's, fanfiction writing might have to take the backseat for a while. I will be updating, just not as fast as I would like to. I love fanfiction, but I love the thought of graduating even more (for the time being).

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own Twilight. We all know it. But putting them in tutus and tights is fun.

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_24. The Day After_

"Bella? Wake up, Bella!"

A hissing voice intruded on my, for once, extraordinarily normal dreams. Something was poking me, and I tried my best to shield myself with my covers.

"Earth to Bella!"

I turned over, hoping this would be sign enough for the intruders to back off. It wasn't. In one swift movement, my covers were pulled off, and a steady voice proclaimed: "Wake up, bitch."

"What the fuck?" I whined, rubbing my eyes. My room was dusky, but I could make out Rose's and Alice's shape in the darkness. "What's the matter?"

"How was your date?" Alice asked, and sat down next to me.

"You're kidding me, right?" I glanced at my clock and wanted to punch them. "You seriously woke me up at 3 am to ask me about my date?"

"Yes," Rose said, and made it sound like this was completely normal.

"Get out!"

"Oh, come on. We saw the dress on the couch. Spill. And please, censor yourself."

"No, don't!" Alice gushed like a six-year-old girl.

"Will you fuck off if I tell you?" I asked dejectedly, pulling my covers tightly around me.

Rose said yes, Alice said no. I hated them both.

"The date was fine. Very normal. Pizza and talk. We took a cab home, he followed me to the door, gave me a peck on the cheek and then left. I put the dress on the couch because I didn't know where else to put it. I brushed my teeth and went to bed."

"Alone?" Alice sounded as disappointed as Rose looked.

I nodded. What else could I do? Rose had told me to censor myself...

"I don't believe this shit," Rose blurted out, and sat down on my other side, and eyed me intently.

"Please, feel free to scrutinize me. I don't have sex hair. I don't have sex eyes. I don't have sex-anything. I'm tired and I have two lunatics in my room."

Rose didn't give up. She looked at me from every angle and, I kid you not, even sniffed me. I rolled my eyes plenty of times to show just how ridiculous this was. Alice intently waited for Rose's verdict, and her face fell just a little too much when Rose finally declared:

"God, you two are so boring."

"Really? By the way, our couch told me he's suing you and Emmett for sexual assault," I retorted venomously. "Can I get back to sleep now?"

Rose stuck out her tongue, but both she and Al left me alone after that. I thanked my lucky star that things hadn't gone any further with Jasper after all. I wouldn't have heard the end of it, and I most certainly wouldn't have been left alone. I really needed to thank Jake, crazy as it seemed. With a heavy sigh, I turned over in my bed, and drifted off to sleep.

The following day was... awkward. Alice kept eyeing me while we packed our pointe shoes, water bottles, books and clothes. She clearly wanted to interrogate me, but I avoided eye contact and said nothing. I briefly saw Jasper before hurrying into English class. His face shone up like a sun, and he waved over the crowd at me. I flashed him a pathetic smile and took refuge in the classroom. What do you say to the guy you could have potentially fucked against a wall the night before? "Hi, nice technique, really turned me on, when are you free for a rematch?"

I think not.

After English, I had technique class with Giuliano, who was still giving me the silent treatment. Jane and Alec were getting bored, so they deviated from their Giuliano-apery by shooting me gleeful and gloating looks, trying to throw me off my game. Fat chance I'd let those two get to me. I was more anxious about getting out of class and going to lunch. That was my one time chance to call Jake without anyone trying to overanalyze every word I said.

I was a jittery mess when Giuliano finally dismissed us, saying something ominous about next week, probably along the lines of "unless I see improvement..." I gathered my things and shot out of class. The food court was already filling up, and I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on; which turned out to be a tuna sallad, an apple, a small carton of milk and a stale roll. The lunch lady seemingly took forever to register my lunch, and I practically threw money at her before I hurried out to find a secluded spot where I could eat and call Jake. Ironically enough, I ended up in a fucking bathroom. Smirking, I pulled out my phone, and speed dialled Jake.

"Yeah?" Jake answered on the second ring.

"Jake?"

"Bella. Feeling less antsy today?"

"I may have realized a few things since we last spoke, so please forgive me for being such a ginormous ass last night," I said, fiddling with the plastic lid on the sallad container. It flipped off, and landed on the floor, where I couldn't reach it. "Shoot!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm trying to eat and have a conversation. Since I'm failing at lunch, I'm starting to think I'm actually a man."

"Well, that would explain a lot..." Jake rebutted teasingly. I handed him that one, how could he not be a smartass? "So, what realizations might young Bella Swan have come to that would warrant such an eloquent apology?"

"You remember Jasper?" I asked hesitantly, taking a bite of salad, trying not to chew too loudly. Unfortunately, it was the grossest tuna sallad I had ever tasted.

"Sure. The guy who you told me you were not sweet on when I came to visit you."

"So, I kinda went on a date with him last night..."

"Finally!" Jake interrupted, and I could picture him pumping his fist triumphantly in the air.

"I'm sorry, are you implying I'm some sort of dateless wonder?" I pushed the tuna to one side and dug in on the salad and the egg.

"I'm just saying you needed a date. With that guy. Bells, if you had balls, they'd be blue as fuck."

"Yeah, and they still are, thank you very much," I quipped, mock-sourly.

"Ah. I called."

"Yes, but as it turns out, it was a blessing in disguise."

"I'm pretty sure that guy Jasper would protest. You implied last night, in so many words, that if I hadn't called you would've gotten so lucky the earth might've started spinning the other way."

"That was true, and I'm not even exaggerating. However, while he was pawing me like no tomorrow, I was wearing his sister's dress."

The line was quiet for a moment. I rolled my eyes. Typical. Of course, Jake wouldn't get what the big deal was. Guys...

"Um... Okay?" he finally said vaguely

"Jake, imagine you and Leah getting all hot and heavy, and you suddenly realize you're wearing Seth's jeans, and Leah's unbuttoning and unzipping them and..." God, I was actually beginning to feel a bit queasy by that scenario. The last thing I needed was a mental image of Leah giving Jake a blowjob.

"Fine, I get your point!" Jake cut me off, obviously battling the same scenario, but from a different perspective. I'm sure he wouldn't mind the blowjob-imagery.

We sat silent for a little while, trying to erase the horrible pictures from our respective mental hard drives. And I tried to eat some more. I shuffled the pieces of lettuce and egg around, trying to eat my apple at the same time, while having my phone jammed between my head and my shoulder. In the bathroom next to me, someone flushed.

"Are you in a bathroom, Bells?" Jake blurted out, and he could barely contain his laughter.

"It was the only place where no one would bother me!" I protested, chucking the plastic box that had contained my salad in the trash bin.

"You are such a cliché, you know that? Seriously, lunch in a bathroom?" Now he laughed, he didn't even bother trying to hide it.

"Oh, fuck off..."

"What, were the bleachers taken?"

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yup," he responded happily, popping the p.

"Okay. That's fine. I'm not sending the key chain back to you," I threatened, opening my carton of milk and taking a sip.

"Aw, don't be like that..."

"You asked for it, Rambo."

"And you can't stay mad at me for long."

"Hanging up on you now."

"Come on, Bella! You know you love m..!"

I hung up on him before he could finish his sentence. Little prick. I'd let him sweat and send him the key chain two days late just to make sure it didn't get to him on time. I finished off the apple, and took a bite of the roll. It tasted like old feet, so I quickly discarded it, along with the apple core, and chugged down the remainder of the milk. Exiting the bathroom, I returned the knife and fork to the food court, and walked back towards the studios and classrooms.

"Bella!" someone called out ahead of me.

Fucking had to be. I looked up, and sort of froze. Jasper. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to sneak past him, he was coming right at me. I put on my best "I'm not at all freaked out"-smile, and commanded myself to move forward.

"Bella," he greeted me and nodded, his tone full of innuendo.

"Jasper," I greeted back, not quite as rich on the insinuations.

"I had a nice time yesterday."

"Yeah. Me, too. Well, not the pizza, that was gross, at least the dessert one, but I mean..." I was in full rambling mode. Great.

"We should do it again sometimes," he interrupted me and smiled.

"Again?" God, I thought I was going to have a panic attack. It felt like the entire school was watching our exchange. "A-again? Oh... Yeah. Sure. Again. Um... We'll talk, okay? I gotta go. Irina Denali's waiting for me."

I gave him an awkward wave, and more or less sprinted down the hall untill I got to Irina Denali's classroom. My heart raced, and I took deep breaths to steady myself. Okay. That was... not smooth. Very awkward. Very...

"Miss Swan," a voice said behind me. I gasped and flinched, turning around on my heel, only to see Miss Denali in the doorway. "You're very punctual."

"I... I just... I missed pointe class," I mumbled, beginning to pull my hair in a tight bun.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. It's good to have you back," Irina Denali said sincerely. "Please, start warming up for class."

I nodded, a smile of gratitude showing on my face. I laced on my Grishko's and stretched my legs, my feet, my toes. My feet were beginning to feel comfortable and molded in the new pointe shoes, and I took my time testing my strength in them.

One after another, students turned up and most of them were happy to see me. I was sort of relieved that they were so mellow about it. I had half expected them to be bitchy and mean, since one more girl in class meant one more person you had to compete against. Bree actually came up to me, and we talked in hushed tones during the collective warm-up. She laughed about how abysmal she and Fred were in ballroom, and how much she missed her boyfriend. I really wanted to spill the beans on Fred's crush, but managed to keep my trap shut.

Irina Denali came down on us really hard that lesson, and spent a good fifteen minutes lecturing us on turnouts and keeping our body in line. She really could turn on you in a snap. One second, she was all praise and niceties, and the next she was furious and reprimanding. You couldn't even be angry with her and chant "bitch" silently, because she was right. The gal had eyes like a hawk.

The arches of my feet ached like crazy when I stumbled out of class 45 minutes later. During my convalescence, I must've suppressed just how challenging pointe class could be. I knew better than to try to avoid the pain by walking as if I was in Monty Python, and instead bit down and suffered through the ache.

When the school day was finally over, I hurried back to the dorms, looking forward to lying down and just breathe, maybe take a nap. I should have known that would was wishful thinking, because when I opened the door, Alice and Rose were waiting for me.

"You lied to us, Bella," Alice stated blankly before I even shut the door.

"I'm sorry?" I said, not even faking the surprise.

"You and Jasper today in the hallway," Rose clarified, stepping up to me. "Major awkward moment, what's up?"

"Do we really have to drag Barney-fucking-Stinson into this? That man has seriously outlived his usefulness."

"You're avoiding the question."

"I didn't know this was any of your business," I rebutted tartly.

"Oh, come on, Bella!" Alice exclaimed, clinging to my arm. "We live together, it's our duty to know things about your lovelife, so we'll know when to start looking for socks on the door..."

"No! There will be no socks on the door, and you will stay the hell out of my excuse for a lovelife. What may or may not have gone down on my date with Jasper is my business, okay? I didn't bring the two of you along as chaperones, so as far as I'm concerned, you are not privy to any details. So, would you kindly butt the fuck out of my personal life!"

Alice looked like she was about to laugh and crack som asinine comment, but Rose elbowed her in the ribs, and Al thankfully kept her mouth shut.

"Okay, yes, we are nosy bitches," Rose admitted, throwing her hands up in surrender. "Jasper is Jasper, that's just how it is. But, if you want us to stay out of it..."

"Yes, please," I said sourly, with emphasis on the 'please'.

"Fine. We'll try."

I left them in the living room, marching into my own room, closing the door behind me loudly enough to let my two friends know not to bother me. I tossed my bag into a corner, pulled off my sweater and collapsed on the bed. Lying down had never felt better. I stretched my feet, pointing and relaxing them alternately. My eyelids got heavier and heavier, and I was already halfway asleep, when my phone started buzzing. I heaved a heavy sigh. If that was Rose or Alice trying to stay out of things without really staying out of things, I would kick their asses, as in literally kick them. I opened the message, and was immediately shocked awake.

_"Are we good? You seemed a bit distracted today. I really enjoyed yesterday. -J"_

My heart skipped a beat, and I broke into a goofy smile. Then I immediately started fretting. What if I'd scared him away? I liked him, no doubt about that, and when the planets aligned again, I'd definitely go on another date with him. Maybe even more. Okay, probably even more. I spent ten minutes trying to compose a sufficiently offhand/sweet/flirty/normal response, but finally gave up and simply called him.

"Bella?" he answered after a few rings, sounding surprised.

"We're good," I immediately blurted out, wasting no time on pleasantries.

"Really? You jus' seemed a bit... cold today."

Cold? Cold meant ice queen to me, which easily translated to bitch. He wasn't going to go down the bitch-road again, was he?

"No, no, it was just, you know... Lots to do. Irina Denali's class, scheming to kick Alec and Jane's skinny asses, calling people. I didn't meant to offend you or anything."

I rolled over on my stomach, propping up on my left elbow, anxiously awaiting his answer.

"Oh, you didn' offend me," he hurried to say, and I smiled. Good. We were really, actually good. "How'd the schemin' go?"

"Meh, nothing concrete yet. Sort of like your choreography," I quipped teasingly.

"Please, don' remind me. I'm browsin' through different kinds of musical works I could possibly use. I've found five so far that I like, and I'm not even halfway through."

"Well, I told you I could help you..."

Please, invite me. Going through music isn't awkward and doesn't necessarily have to lead to dancing the horizontal tango. It was just hanging out. It would be safe.

"You could come over tomorrow, if you have time."

Suddenly, I was transported back in time, to one of the rare occasions when I had actually had a huge crush on a boy in high school, and a friend of mine tried to coach me on how to sound sufficiently offhand in case said boy would ever ask me out. I had an immediate urge to flip my hair and giggle, but managed to rein myself in.

"That would be nice. Tomorrow," I agreed, feeling a warmth spread in my tummy.

"Tomorrow, then. Goodbye, Bella."

We hung up, and as soon as the call had ended I was out of bed, doing the silliest fucking dance known to man. We're talking serious fist pumping and general goofiness. I kept prancing around for ten minutes or something before my door opened and Alice peeked in, looking at me like I was some deranged lunatic. I froze mid-skip, and we just stared at each other for a while.

"I won't ask," Alice muttered, then left, not closing the door.

I could hear her walk into her and Rose's room, repeating the same "I won't ask." all the way. I snorted and skipped out of my room. I'd get to spend time with Jasper. And I swore to myself I wouldn't be a complete spaz.

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**A/N**: So, was this sufficiently awkward for the post-first date/hot make-out session meeting? Please review and let me know!


	26. Chapter 25: Nowhere to Hide

**A/N**: I finally updated, yes! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and a special thank you to Kass, who rec'ed this story on her own Twi-fic (a genius fic called The Light within the Darkness - check it out!), and to Unerose93 who helped me with the music for this chapter. I chose to be a bit patriotic in this chapter, you'll know why when you see it. Heads up, here be steam in this chapter! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight. We all know it.

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_25. Nowhere to Hide_

"I thought you said you had it narrowed down to five songs!" I gushed when I saw Jasper empty contents of the box between us.

Jasper had commandeered on of the smaller studios for the cause, which he had dubbed _Operation: What the Hell Am I Doing?_ in the text he had sent me during French. I spent the rest of the day making up stories that would get me out of the dorm, no questions asked. Just because Alice and Rose had promised to butt out didn't mean they were actually going to keep their promise. I needed a plan, just in case.

In the end, it turned out I didn't really need one. Neither one of them was home when I got there. I thanked my lucky star for that stroke of luck, and changed clothes. Not that changing clothes was entirely necessary, we would most likely only discuss the assignment and browse through music, but still... A small part of me nursed a silly hope that there would be dancing, so I dressed in sweats, a tanktop and a bolero, taking my flats in my hands before I left.

Jasper was already waiting for me, sitting Indian style on the floor with a box and a cd-player next top him. He lit up when I entered, and my lips automatically drew into a smile when I saw him. Fuck, I was such a sap...

"You ready to get down to business?" he asked me challengingly as I approached him.

"Are you?" I countered, and sat down opposite him.

"Hell, no, but what choice do I have?"

"Okay, then. Tell me about the project."

"It's supposed to be a short performance, ten minutes tops." Jasper drew his hand through his messy hair. "We choose our own music, choreograph a routine an' perform it in front of the class an' our teachers."

"Who..?" I began, but was interrupted.

"Giuliano an' Vincenza."

"I can see why you're freaked out," I commented and furrowed my brow.

"No shit. The only limitations are that we can't use music from any of the big ballets, an' we are not allowed to recreate scenes. Our music has to be classical, an' it has to pass inspection. They said we could chose freely, but in case we got stuck, they had a list of suggestions," Jasper explained, counting off the so called limitations on his fingers.

"Wow. Not helpful at all."

"Yeah, an' I can't begin plannin' the performance 'til I have picked a song, which is where you enter the picture."

"My awesome taste is at your disposal," I declared, bowing my head and twirling my hand like a lady in waiting.

Jasper smirked, opened the box he had sitting next to him, and emptied it between us. A horde of cd's fell out, and my jaw dropped.

"I thought you said you had it narrowed down to five songs!"

"That was yesterday, and I wasn't done browsin'."

I let out a huff of air, and began looking through the cd casings. He had at least fifteen albums picked out, which only meant an assload to choose from. I noticed he had a Debussy-collection in there, which made me smile. He had been dancing to Debussy when I saw him the first time.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road," I said, picking up an album at random and handing it to Jasper. "Hit it."

Thus began the longest music picking session known to man. I'd hand him a cd, he'd play me the song or songs he liked, after which a nerdy discussion followed regarding the merits and potential of each song. Once and again, we'd return to a song that had stuck with us, and sketch up a rough choreography, then stop halfway and continue listening to the next song. It was exhausting and unnerving when nothing struck Jasper's fancy. There seemed to be nothing that really got his inspiration going.

"Don't you have anything special you want from the song you want to dance to?" I asked when we had about a quarter of all the cd's left. "Any specific feeling you want to evoke?" We so deperately needed to narrow things down.

Jasper looked down at the various cd casings and sighed, his gaze wandering from one to the other.

"Somethin'... dynamic. Strong, almost explosive. Thought-provokin'," he replied after a while.

"Okay, that's good. We can sort out these four, then." I put away four cd's we had already listened to. Four down, eleven to go.

"What amazin' progress in deed..."

I ignored his exasperated jibe, and rummaged through the eleven remaining cd's. Suddenly, I stumbled over one we hadn't listened to yet. The cover looked odd in comparison to the rest, which is why it caught my attention.

"Hey, what's this?"

I held up the cd to show Jasper. The cover had a cello on it, only it looked like it had been pimped out by an electrician on acid. Jasper furrowed his brow when he saw it.

"It's mine," he admitted somewhat bewildered, reaching out his hand to take the cd from me. "It must've gotten in with the rest by mistake."

"It doesn't look like classical music," I remarked, still looking at the cover.

Jasper smirked at me, opened the case, popped open the cd player and inserted the disc. He pressed the next-button a few times and waited. For a split second, the small studio was absolutely quiet.

It was like an explosion. The strings of the cellos protested under the bows, the aggressiveness shocking my senses. Then, just as I had gotten used to the angry prelude, it quieted down to a dark, quivering vibrato. From it, a series of plucking notes emerged, and I immediately recognized the piece. The pace quickened, and the soft notes were drowned out by a high pitched playing, once again exploding in a wild symphony of emotions, and I couldn't help but be drawn into it, see the dance unfold before my mind's eye: being chased, hiding, fleeing, hiding again, the chase turning into a flurry of figures twirling out of reach to the beat of the music

I had never heard _In __the__ Hall__ of__ the __Mountain __King_ played like this.

"What... was that?" I asked, almost feeling out of breath when the music finally stopped.

"Apocalyptica," Jasper replied, hitting the pause-button. "They're a Finnish band, playing heavy metal on cellos. Started out doin' Metallica covers on cello back in the 90's. Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's..."

I couldn't even form the words. This was it, I then realized. This was Jasper's music. It had the explosiveness, the dynamics he wanted. And it most definitely was thought-provoking. Those stiff directors wouldn't know what hit them, that's for sure.

"Play some more," I demanded, pointing eagerly to the player.

We listenend through more or less the entire album. It was mindblowing, the way they on the one hand adapted Metallica, and on the other created magical compositions of their own, using only cellos and percussions. By the end of a song called Kaamos, Jasper began to look as excited as I felt. You could almost see the wheels ticking inside his head.

"Do you think Giuliano and Vincenza will go for it?" I asked when we had gone through all the songs. I didn't even bother to ask if Jasper would consider using this and for his performance. I could just tell he would.

"Vincenza might," he answered, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes. "Giuliano... might be tougher. But I think if I present the concept an' the choreography well, I might be able to convince them."

"What songs would you pick?"

"I'd like to merge two of them, maybe start with Kaamos an' then let it blend into either Cohkka, however that's pronounced, or Somewhere Around Nothin'."

I nodded fervently in agreement, biting down on my bottom lip.

"Definitely that first song. It was both lowkey and aggressive, and the ending makes for a good transition. For the second part, I'd pick that however you pronounce it-song over Somewhere Around Nothing. It's more consistent with Kaamos, and easier to transition into. Do you know what the titles mean? They sound odd."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find out," Jasper said with a smile, and fished out his cell phone from the pocket of his sweats.

He began clattering away on it, while I put on Cohkka again. There was a kind of quiet intensity to it that got to me. Just like Kaamos, it started off slow and intense, only to erupt in a strong, dynamic middle that would go on to the very end. I pulled off my sneakers, put on my flats and got to my feet. I closed my eyes, and focused on the music, letting it fill me up. Before I knew it, my body was swaying along to the beat, my feet fluttering and skipping, twirling and tiptoeing across the floor. In the midst of the improvised dance, I wished I had brought pointe shoes instead of flats. This song was made for dancing en pointe.

Suddenly, Jasper's hands gently took hold of my hips and my arms, taking the lead. I opened my eyes to find myself looking up into his eyes. He looked so... undescribably serene and determined at the same time. He led me in a dance that really had no steps, just instinct. Each time he lifted me off the floor, even if it was only for a second, my stomach soared, and I had to gasp for air. I twirled away from him in a set of pirouettes, only to return to his outreached arms in a grand jete that seemed to defy gravity more than usual. Jasper caught me effortlessly, spinning us around before setting me doen as the last chords echoed out into silence. We were face to face againb, both of us gasping for air in short, clipped breaths.

"It means mountain top," Jasper then said, his voice rough and subdued.

"What?" I breathed, still holding onto him.

"I still don' know how it's pronounced but the title of this song means mountain top."

"Okay..."

I didn't even register the movement before his lips crashed onto mine. Jasper kissed me with a fervor that dizzied me, and I grabbed hold of his shoulder for support while I hungrily kissed him back. His tongue darted across my lips, and I granted him access without second thought. He backed us up until we hit the nearest wall, and I was pinned between it and Jasper's body. His hands, lightning quick, made their way under my tanktop and up my back, burning hot against my skin. I quivered under his touch. My own hands moved according to whim, seeking out the hem of his shirt, and tugging at it, forcing it up until I could feel his skin against my palms. The planes of his upper body was like a landscape I explored for the very first time. The muscles of his abdomen moved under my trailing fingers, his nipples stiffened when I lightly brushed over them. He let out a muffled sigh between the kisses, breaking off to bury his face against my neck, nipping at the sensitive skin.

"Jasper..." I gasped throatily, stretching my neck to grant him better access.

He kept going, pulling me closer to him, and I could feel his excitement. Like, literally feel it. Not that I wasn't excited. Hell, I was like a fucking cat in heat. I knew there was a part of my mind somewhere that strongly disapproved of what I was doing. But the part of my brain that controlled me right now couldn't care less. She only cared about losing all the fabric between our hotspots.

"Is Rose an' Alice home?" Jasper whispered to me.

I knew exactly why he asked, and it drove me crazy.

"I don't know. They weren't home when I left, but they might... be back. Is Peter and..?"

"Yes," he answered me, licking my neck and carefully blowing on the moist spot.

"Fuck!" I hissed, both at the answer and the treatment.

"Where's a good broom closet when you need one?"

"I don't want to take a rain check..." I whimpered in his ear.

"Neither do I." He stopped his assault on my neck and looked at me. "But I'd really prefer not doin' this in a studio."

"Fuck," I repeated, kneading into his shoulder blades, eliciting a pain-tinged groan from Jasper.

"If it's any consolation, I'll be just as frustrated tonight as you will be."

He gave me a long, deep kiss, and I could feel the heat pool between my legs.

"I wouldn't count on it, cowboy."

Jasper laughed and stroked my face with his index finger. I playfully nagged at it, trying to bite him, but he pulled it away just in time, which only made me irritated.

"God, this schools is like one big chastity belt. Where the fuck are all the good hiding spots?"

"Ask Alice, she..." Jasper began, but stopped abruptly, looking like he'd said too much.

"Ask Alice, she what?" I demanded to know. "Are you implying she's some sort of vamp who sneaks around in closets?"

"No, no! She's not a... She's not like that."

"Then what? Tell me."

He shook his head, and feigned zipping his mouth shut. He did this to tease me, and I wouldn't have that. I smiled an angelic smile, placing my hand on his crotch and giving it a light squeeze. The flesh inside stirred and stiffened, and Jasper groaned loudly.

"Please?" I asked in my most innocent voice.

"Only because you have my balls in your hands..." he wheezed, trying to push away my hand. I quite liked having him in my hands, and deterred his attempty by squeezing a bit harder.

"Well?"

"Alice used to come visit Rose a lot last year. I don' know how, but she found all sorts of shortcuts through the dorms an' the school. She could be one place one second an' another one the next."

Really? I let go of Jasper's package, and he let out a relieved sigh. So Alice knew this school like she had a fucking built-in Marauder's Map. Bad news for me, since I had asked her and Rose to butt out of all things pertaining to me and Jasper. If I asked, she would know something was up.

"I should do something foul to you, Bella Swan," Jasper then said play fully, and I returned to reality.

He had backed up a few steps, just out of reach of any more ball grabbing.

"By all means. Befoul me. Please," I replied, cocking my eyebrows.

He gave me a devilish smirk, and backed up even more. What the fuck? I said, befoul me! I even said please! I watched him gather the cd's in the bow, tucking it under one arm and the cd player under the other.

"Thank you, Bella, for helpin' me tonight." He looked so wicked and fucking hot, I couldn't even move. "We were good tonight." Every word was laced with double meaning, and I hated it. "See you in Vincenza's class tomorrow?"

I couldn't speak, it would only translate into curses and pleas for him to just fucking do me. I nodded mutely in reply to his question, and waited for him to exit the studio. As soon as he was out, I sank down on the floor. Fucking shit. I was still turned on like mad, and wanted nothing more than to get off. At least Jasper was in the same sexually unsatisfied boat. I hated him for teasing me, but it felt so good. I loved that about him, he knew what buttons to push. I loved that he... No. I just loved him. I was up before I could think, picking up my sneakers in passing. Out the studio, and I looked down the hall. There he was. I ran after him, and he turned around, hearing my footsteps. He set down the box and the cd player, as if knowing what would happen.

At the last minute, I let go of my sneakers and jumped onto Jasper, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. I wasted no time, and kissed him as if my life depended on it. For a moment he was startled, but soon enough, he took old of me, supported my weight, and kissed me back. It wasn't a kiss like back in the studio. I just showed him how I felt, how much I loved every part of him. For once Jasper didn't answer the kiss with as much force, he just tasted, took in the sensations.

I broke off the kiss, and leaned against him, forehead to forehead.

"I love you," I whispered to his face, hoping that my world wouldn't come crashing down with his reply.

Seconds seemed to tick by. I felt his breathing, his chest rise and fall. I didn't want to look at him now. Sure, it was one thing to look at him, to want to look at him when he was turning me on in all ways possible, but this... This was an occasion when I would never dare look him in the eye, because it would tell me everything, and if it was the wrong answer, I would shatter.

"I... love you, too, Bella," finally came the answer in a whisper, almost a breath.

An imaginary champagne bottle opened in me, my body suddenly light and bubbling. I kissed him again, joyful, content and eager.

"Fuck this..." Jasper mumbled between kisses, and with some difficulty, he picked up the box and the player while I clung to his body. I giggled at the expletive that rolled off his lips.

"Where are we going?" I asked, when he resumed walking the way he'd been headed.

"To kick Peter an' Felix out. I really don' want to hide."

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**A/N**: This chapter originally had a different ending, but it seemed wrong, so I rewrote it. Pardon the terrible vamp-pun, it just came out that way.

I chose Apocalyptica for a reason. They are awesome, and it blows my mind that music can be so magical with only cellos and percussions. Plus, it set a good mood for some Jasper/Bella hotness. Seriously. Go watch Apocalypticas live performance of "In the Hall of the Mountain King". If they treat their cellos that way... Yum.

Cohkka (pronounced something like 'chohko') is a Sami word meaning mountain top. Kaamos (pretty much pronounced like it's spelled) is a Finnish word meaning 'polar night'. During winter, the sun shines only a few hours a day, and in the northern-most parts of Finland, the sun never rises at all during the winter months. The long absence of light can cause SAD, seasonal affictive disorder. Combine that with freezing temperature of down to -27 degrees, and you have pretty good idea of what I'm in for this winter.

Reviews make me less SAD! ;)


	27. Chapter 26: Sparks Fly Out

**A/N**: Yet another chapter where I kept changing back and forth before settling on the final details. You've been asking for it, and here it is: some lemony goodness. I'm afraid there won't be much of a real storyline in this one. Enjoy, my pretties.

**Disclaimer**: SMeyer owns Twilight. We all know it.

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_26. Sparks Fly Out_

I half-heard Jasper order Peter and Felix to leave. In my imagination, they looked shellshocked, and maybe just a little gleeful that Jasper was getting some. I couldn't be sure, though, since I was far too occupied with kissing and nipping at Jasper's neck. There was some shuffling, some smirking, but the guys finally left, closing the door behind me. Jasper set me down on, and for a second, I was too disoriented to stand up straight. Everything we had in our hands fell to the floor. He held on to me, keeping me on my feet while kissing me to kingdom come. For once, I was glad I was dressed in the most casual clothes I had in my wardrobe. I had a strong feeling they would soon be in a heap on the floor, and there were almost no buttons to stop the flow.

We stumbled into Jasper's room, our hands roaming each other's bodies. Jasper slammed the door shut with a loud bang, and we giggled at the loud noise. Without much further ado, I took hold of the situation. I felt like I was gonna implode at any second, and I desperately needed some release. I pulled at his shirt, and thankfully, he got the point and stretched up his arms, allowing me to pull the t-shirt off. I had almost forgotten how fucking beautiful he looked shirtless. My eyes devoured every inch of his lean figure, saw the muscles subtly move under his soft skin. To say that my girly parts tingled was a gross understatement. I leaned in, trailing hot kisses along his collarbone, revelling in the sound of Jasper's soft groans. He followed suit, and made quick work of my top and bolero. My bra followed shortly after. I instinctively pressed myself up against him, feeling exposed, but he calmly turned me around so that my back was flush against his body.

You know that scene in _Dirty__Dancing_ where Johnny and Baby are practicing, and Johnny's trying to do that really sensual move, putting Baby's arm around his neck and trailing down along her arm to her other hand with his? I always got a little worked up when I saw that scene, so you can imagine what if felt like when Jasper did the same to me. I was trying to cover myself up, god knows why, because I obviously had no problem groping him earlier. Suddenly, I felt Jasper steadily pry my left arm away, pulling it up and around his neck. He kept his hand on mine for a few seconds to show that I shouldn't move. He then brushed down my arm to my breast, his calm breaths tickling my neck. I futilely tried to cover myself with my other hand, but I was disarmed and exposed again in five seconds. Slowly, Jasper began rubbing and brushing against my skin, starting at my sides. His touch was feather light, yet assertive, and when he grazed my already stiff nipples, I staggered, moaning into the darkness.

"So soft..." Jasper mumbled in my ear, his voice thick with lust as he ran his hand under my breasts.

My right arm, lax by my side, nestled its way in between us to his crotch, and my breath hitched when I felt his dick push up against my hand.

"Can't say the same thing about you," I teased, working my way inside his sweatpants and underwear.

I gripped him, stroking a few times, and now it was Jasper's turn to stagger. He was rock hard in my hand, and I found myself impatient, wanting so much more. Jasper, it seemed, had the same thought.

"No more teasing." His voice was gravelly and low as he turned me around so I once again faced him.

We were horizontal in record time, clumsily pulling off the rest of our clothes. I took him in my hand again, stroking him gingerly. From somewhere, Jasper pulled out a condom, pushing away my hand. I pursed my lips; he was so warm and I didn't want to part from him.

"You'll get it back," Jasper smiled humorously when he saw my expression.

I sat up, kissing him and wrapping my arms around his neck. I needed him close, closer. I wanted every molecule of my body to fuse with his. It seemed like forever before Jasper leaned forward, easing us down onto the bed. I rand my hands down his chest, not sure where to put them. For a moment, we just lay there, on the brink of something so inexplicably intimate. Our ragged breaths were the only sounds in the room. Jasper positioned himself, spreading my legs wide. This was it. Our eyes met, and we both looked equally nervous, which had a strangely calming effect on the both of us.

"Bella..." he breathed, as if saying it would all be okay. I took his word for it.

"Please," I whimpered, bucking my hips. I was a bundle of nerves, and sparkles shot through my body like electric currents. His length briefly connected with my wet folds

Jasper lowered himself, kissed me, and with a slow thrust, our bodies finally connected.

The experience defied words. I can't even begin to describe it. I've had sex before, but they were fumbling encounters in comparison. This was more. It was softer, harder, hotter, more intense, just... more. We hardly spoke a sentence to each other, but not in a bad way. One of us would start saying something, and the other would respond with a slight shift of their body, or a nod, or just a hissed "fuck". I daresay that was the most frequently used word during the act, closely followed by "more". And the "more" kept coming. It kept building up to a glorious peak, from which we fell into a blissful pleasure unlike anything I had ever felt. Some people have said that the mind enters a nirvana-like state during orgasm, a split second of emptiness and fulfillment.

I'm quite inclined to agree.

My mind came out of nirvana soon enough, but my body... that's a whole other story. It still tingled and resonated with the aftershock of our release. We'd disconnected at some point, but we were still as close to each other as we could possibly be. I could hear Jasper's pulse race in time with my own; a vivid and staccato-like rhythm with odd jumps and twists and moments of calm before picking up again. Suddenly, I remembered the steamy dreams I'd had, the ones where Jasper and I would dance as if we were having sex, with only thin pieces of fabric separating our bodies. Real sex was so much better. I gave a small chuckle.

"Somethin' funny, darlin'?" Jasper asked me, nuzzling into my tangled hair. I loved the slight drawl when he said 'darling'.

"I just remembered a dream I had," I replied honestly.

"Oh? Good dream, I take it?"

"You were in it. We danced together, it was..."

I left the sentence hanging, because somehow I couldn't make myself say we'd basically been dance-fucking for months already. It felt as if it would ruin the moment.

"Well, we make a good team," Jasper pointed out, not pursuing the dream-topic.

"Too bad I can't dance with you for your project," I lamented with a slight pout. "I guess I'll settle for helping with choreography."

He didn't answer me on that one, not that I expected him to.

We stayed in bed for another half hour, nestled together, all limbs and sheets. At long last, though, we realized we needed to get out of bed. My stomach began grumbling like a troll, announcing loudly that I was hungry. Jasper snickered and chided himself for forgetting to feed me. He tossed me a towel, implicitly asking if we could take a shower before getting food. I followed him quietly, telling myself that I was really doing the environment a service by showering with him. Conserving water and all that crap.

Really, I just wanted to be close to him again.

The hot water was like needles against my skin. For a moment it felt like it was ice cold, and I pushed up against Jasper for warmth. As my body acclimated to the temperature, I turned and twisted, letting the water run down my body.

"Bella..." Jasper said warningly behind me.

"What?" I replied, turning around.

He had this really tense look on his face, hell, his entire body was tense. His entire... Oh. Just to confirm, I pushed up against him, and yes, sir, there it was. I bit my lip, and gave him an innocent look.

"You're makin' this very hard for me..."

I gave a short laugh, because that was just fucking hilarious to me. I was making things hard for him. My god, my sense of humour got even worse after sex.

"Bella," he growled, gripping my arms tightly.

He should have known that this little endeavour was doomed from the moment we both crammed ourselves in the little shower. He was obviously not done, and when the tingly sparks began shooting through my body once again, I realized neither was I. The sound of his shallow breaths was amplified in the tiled bathroom as I jerked him, and it was briefly interspersed by my highpitched gasp when his fingers finally found my sensitive skin. We twisted our bodies as best we could in the confined space, hissing and moaning under our breaths. Jasper slid two fingers into me, working me slowly. I clung to him with one arm, using the other to pump up and down on his dick.

Jasper came before me this time, his fingers thrusting hard into me. I moaned loudly, the sound echoing eerily. His lips were on mine before I could make another sound, lifting my right leg so I could wrap it around his hips. His fingers set to work again, sliding out of me to flick across my swollen bundle.

"Oh, God," I breathed between his urgent kisses. "Fuck, yes..."

A surge deep within my stomach alerted me that I was close. My breathing picked up, my moans grew louder by the second. In one-two-three short seconds I fell over the edge again, the euphoria like a rogue wave carrying me away by that surge deep inside me. I clamped my leg around Jasper so hard the muscles in my calves spasmed and I almost slipped and fell over. Panting like we'd just run two marathons with conrete shoes, we straightened up. I breathed against his chest, feeling a kind of fulfillment and contention.

"I think I can die happy now," I whispered huskily against his skin.

"Right back at you," Jasper replied, sounding just as out of breath as I did.

We finished showering and followed our trail of discarded clothes with a small amount of amusement. It seemed like such a cliché to go pick up clothes strewn all over the place. When we were all dressed, we headed for the door. As we approached it, there was a muffled sound from behind it, and a bustling followed ut. I looked at Jasper.

"No, they wouldn't..." I said in disbelief.

Jasper hurried to the door and opened it in one swift motion. Outside, Alice and Felix were both trying to look like they just happened to be passing by, but it was painfully obvious they had been eavesdropping. I gaped at them, this was outrageous.

"Hi?" Alice tried sheepishly, making an awkward twirl as she turned to me. She had her phone jammed to her ear.

Another time, I might've exploded in their faces. I had explicitly asked Alice and Rose to butt the hell out, and that demand extended to whoever tried to get them to put their noses where they didn't belong. I should've seen it was futily, because really, what was the point? The cat had been out of the bag since the moment Jasper kicked Felix and Peter out of the dorm. Felix, the little blabbermouth had of course run to Alice and Rose. I wouldn't be at all suprised if Emmett, or ever Alice's brother already knew that Jasper and I had danced the horizontal cha-cha. So, instead of ripping Alice and Felix to shreds, I laughed at the silly expression on their faces.

"Pathetic, the pair of you!"

Neither one looked particularly fazed by it, and so I zeroed in on Alice's phone, still jammed between her ear and her shoulder.

"You got Rose on the line?" I asked sweetly, snatching the phone before Alice could react.

"...the fuck is going on?" I heard Rose say, her voice echoing strangely.

"Rose?"

"Bella? Where's Alice?"

"Trying to come up with a good excuse as to why her and Felix were camping out in front of Jasper's dorm. Where the hell are you?"

The strange echoing continued, and I distinctly heard Emmett muttering in the background. Okay, so he definitely knew.

"Nowhere," Rose answered, trying to sound flippant.

"The hell you are. Do I need to track you down?" I mock-threatened.

"I'm in our bathroom..."

"Why the hell would you..?"

It hit me before I could even finish my sentence. Bathroom. Piping. Me and Jasper getting all hot and...

"You are fucking kidding me, right?"

"I wish I was. You think I meant to be in the shower just as you started humping my brother? Thanks a fucking lot for the emotional scars, Bella."

"We weren't humping!" I hissed frantically. Holy fuck, this was messed up. "If it was so scarring, why the hell are you still in the bathroom?"

"Because..." Rose began, and I could tell she was slightly annoyed by the answer. "Because Emmett is a perv."

I groaned. Fuck you, Emmett. Fuck you very much.

"Tell him I hate him. And that we didn't hump. In fact, if you can convince him it wasn't me and Jasper at all, I'd be eternally grateful."

"He tends to have a very long and selective memory. I'd have to kill him."

"Not if I get my hands on him first..." It almost came out as a snarl, because getting teased by Emmett was not something I looked forward to. If anyone could make me blush tomato red, it was Emmett. Something about him completely threw me.

"I'll do what I can..."

"I'll expect nothing less," I said, and handed the phone back to Alice.

Jasper held out his hand, and I took it. Before tonight, the thought of walking hand in hand with him had seemed like such a weird and awkward thing to do, but the way he just offered his hand, and the way I simply took it like it was no big deal... It was natural. This was how it was supposed to be. We began walking, hoping to get away from this nuthouse, but oh, no...

"Stop. Right. There," Felix commanded, enunciating every word. For some asinine reason, we stopped dead in our tracks. "Where do you think you two are going?"

"To tell your mother you're up past your bedtime," Jasper quipped unexpectedly, and I had to supress my laughter into a snort.

Felix pulled a face. Apparantly, he'd heard that one before.

"The vote of confidence is astounding," he replied mock-sarcastically. "Seriously though, where are you two going?"

"I'm hungry," I replied with a sigh. "We're both hungry, so we're going out to get something to eat."

"That's a shocker..." Felix mumbled and smirked.

"Watch your mouth, Felix, I'm not completely against the idea of hitting a girl." I took a step towards him, and he automatically took one step back.

"You need to chill out..."

"Can we come?" Alice suddenly piped up, obviously having overheard the entire conversation.

"We? We as in you an' Felix?" Jasper asked incredulously. I admit, it was sort of surprising.

Alice only used 'we' when she was including Rose. Otherwise it was mostly "I and..." I looked from Alice to Felix and back to check their responses. Alice, as expected, didn't look fazed at all. Funny thing was, neither did Felix. Hmm... I spy with my little eye...

"Do you see anyone else here?" Felix retorted with a smile.

Jasper looked at me, as if to ask for my approval. Not that I really wanted company, but... There was something going on with Alice and Felix. Might as well do some surveillance. I shurgged my shoulders and smiled at Alice and Felix.

"Yes!" Alice exclaimed, jumping around like a giddly little schoolgirl. "Can I pick where we're going? I know this really good..."

"Don't push it, cousin," Jasper interrupted her gently, shaking his head. "I've already got a place in mind."

He began walking, and I quickly followed him, one step behind. In our wake, Alice and Felix brought up the rear, chatting animatedly.

"You do know something's fishy, right?" I whispered to Jasper as we exited the dormatories.

"'Course I do, I wouldn't have asked you if they could tag along otherwise," he whispered back.

I hummed the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song under my breath, and now it was Jasper's time to supress laughter. Good to know we were both on to Alice and Felix. This could get very interesting...

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**A/N**: I gave you a little lemon and a possible love interest for Alice. Your thoughts on A/F? Something that should be pursued? Leave me some love!


	28. Chapter 27: Break on Through

**A/N**: Hi everybody! I'm so sorry for hogging this for forever and then some. I've had three very stressful months, and a serious case of writers block. I got about halfway with this chapter and then I hit a wall. I just couldn't end the chapter in a good way, and it took until last week for me to get it right. I owe some serious gratitude to Kass and her amazing story "Light within the Darkness", because her second-to-last update really kicked me into gear. If you haven't read LwtD, do it. Now. I'm serious. But read this chapter first! ;)_  
_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight. I just fantasize about the gang in tights.

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_27. Break on Through_

I was almost expecting Jasper to take us to the pizza place and order up the disgusting dessert pizza for us. Thank God, that didn't happen. Instead, he guided us to this small sandwich- and pie place, tucked in between a hardware store and a flower shop. It was the kind of place you'd miss if you didn't look for it.

Knowing not to trust Jasper exclusively with food, I declined to have him order for me. I was starving, and I wanted something that was actually digestible. Thus, I settled for a nice, simple chicken club sandwich and a cup of tea. We found a small table in a corner, and we had barely sat down when Felix, that tactless prick, loudly declared:

"So, you two, getting all freaky-deaky. Nice!"

I had already taken a huge bite of my sandwich, and I almost smothered myself with it.

"Smooth, Felix," Jasper said in a strained, hushed tone. We both glanced sideways to... Yep. Everyone in the shop was now staring at us.

"What?" Felix looked completely nonplussed. Seriously? He had no better conversation opener in stock?

"Felix, you really need to stop acting like Barney Stinson," Alice commented, trying to be at least a little helpful. Unfortunately, I could see her fighting back a smile.

"I'm still not opposed to hitting a girl," I wheezed at Felix between my coughs, as I tried to dislodge the piece of sandwich from my esophagus.

Felix just shrugged and laughed it off, happily munching on his large piece of pecan pie as if nothing had happened. Alice, god bless her, quickly steered the topic away from bedroom-related stuff to something safer, in this case school. She vividly described the hilarity of having Marcus Santi subbing for Afton Derby, the acrobatics teacher.

"I mean, he just stood there, stiff as a board. He knew what he was doing, or well, supposed to do. He knew how to instruct, but really? Weirdo was the only choice? It was awkward to the nth degree, and would only have been more awkward if he had actually tried to do a series of back handsprings."

"I'm still having trouble picturing him in tights," I chuckled.

"That's what you spend your wakin' hours thinkin' about?" Jasper quipped humorously. "Director Santi in tights?"

"Oh, I could so easily ruin you for life, but I kinda like you sane." I winked wickedly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hush, woman!"

"So, Jazz, getting anywhere on the project?" Felix interjected.

"Yes, Bella helped me with the music, an' she'll probably chip in on the choreography, too."

"Really?" Alice commented, her voice dropping with innuendo.

"You know it has to be PG-13, right?" Felix said simultaneously.

I flipped him off and gave him a kick in the shins for good measure. Like Emmett, Felix didn't seem to have much of a brain filter in place.

"If you ever permanently dislodge your head from your ass, by all means, let me know," I hissed venomously. Felix was fun and all, but how fucking hard could it be to keep to normal conversation every once in a while?

"It will be amazin' once it's all done," Jasper continued. "If I don't get good feedback for this, I might as well cut off my feet."

He was in such a good mood, talking about the dance project. I felt a slight sting of jealousy. I wanted something like that, too, some measure of creative flow and not just the same repetitive classes where we were spoon fed input. I mean, I appreciated the classes, it was a unique opportunity to learn from the best, but... Choreographing your own routine trumped technique class with Giuliano any day in my book.

"You'll kill the assignment," I told Jasper encouragingly. "They'd have to be brain dead not to ace you for it."

Jasper gave me one of those smiles that made my insides melt, and he gently pecked me on the mouth. Alice gave a sigh usually reserved from über-cheesy rom coms, and Felix tried to keep from fake-barfing in a napkin.

We left about half an hour later, our bellies full and spirits reasonably high. Alice and Felix said goodbye and headed for the dorm, while me and Jasper roamed around campus for a while. Okay, so roamed may be a bit of an exaggeration. Mostly we ducked into dark corners to make out. The sane part of my brain tried to point out how crazy this was, that we were making cats in heat look tame and well-behaved. This was juvenile, hiding and giggling between kisses and holding our breaths when someone passed our hiding spot. But there was some sort of primal force ruling us, and we both wanted more. The sweet memory of our bodies peaking smoldered in the back of my mind. I wanted this, that, all of it, for fucking ever.

Eventually, we stumbled back to the dorms, hair ruffled and cheeks ablaze. The gazes that met us as we walked down the corridors, hand in hand, would've probably made me blush if I hadn't been so perfectly content with my life at that moment. I didn't give a flying fuck what people thought. I couldn't have cared less even if the Directors themselves had come marching down the hall, declaring our relationship against school rules. I had myself a man, and we would fucking rule this school, even if it meant literally killing off the Demon Spawn.

Jasper said goodnight, very gentlemanly, and we shared a quick kiss before I ducked into my dorm. No one was waiting for me. No inquisition, no innuendo marathon. I skipped into my room, tossed my clothes and dove into bed. Operation: Wonderful Life, day effing one.

Monday came all too soon. The hours slipped away, god knows where to. I know I spent them with Jasper. In the short days that passed, he became the axis around which most of my world seemed to spin. We planned his performance, we kissed, we acted like one of those couples that used to make me throw up in my mouth. I didn't care, and it felt nice for once.

When technique class rolled around on Monday morning, I was still happy as a clam, and hardly even registered the evil fiends as they entered the studio.

"Very well done, Bella." Jane's overly sweet voice finally pierced through my bubble of happiness.

"Excuse me?" I turned to face the two of them, keeping my face arranged in a mask of indifference.

"Well, you obviously came to your senses and dumped your dog boyfriend in favor of Jasper Hale. Very admirable in deed." She tried to sound approving, but it registered as malicious glee.

"The two of you seemed to hit it off during the weekend," Alec continued, giving me that look that I so detested. "Quite hard," he added with a slight wiggle of his too-perfect eyebrows.

"Yes, well, you wouldn't know anything about that," I rebutted before I even had time to think. "Who would want to bang a frigid bitch and a skeezy ass? Unless you're taking sibling bonding to where it should never go."

Something happened then. It was almost imperceptible, but I caught it. Both Alec and Jane stiffened minutely, their expressions blank and paler for a split second.

Gotcha.

They were not immune, there were ways to throw them off their game. I felt an immense sense of accomplishment, and smiled smugly. I would watch these little bitches, find out what made them tick and then squash them like bugs under my pointe shoes. Fuck Felix, Giuliano and every other jerkface. I was done playing games.

I shot the twins a smile before turning my back to them. They did not bother me for the rest of the day. Giuliano, on the other hand, was his usual charming self. He actually sniffed impatiently when he passed me as we were doing rond de jambes. He knew he had nothing to criticize me for, and he hated it. I could practically hear him grind his teeth. What a sad life he must have.

The day moved on with Dance History, a new course that put me and Alice in the same classroom for the first time. While Al may give the impression of being a bit ditzy, she was exceptionally sharp in class. She dropped names and dates like she was a walking encyclopedia, and our teacher, a ragged-looking Irishman, didn't seem to know if he was supposed to be irritated or impressed. I doubted I was the only one who struggled with taking notes while trying to listen to Alice as she more or less ran the class.

"Okay, how do you do that?" I asked as we walked down the hallway.

"Do what?" Alice replied offhandedly, nodding to one of her friend from contemporary.

"Know so much. I didn't know half of all the names you spit out, and I'm interested in dance history."

"It's a gift. I know things, nothing to get all jazzed about, Bella. Look, I gotta run, I can't be late."

She skipped off down the hall and was soon out of sight. I shook my head, and quickly made my way to the last lesson before lunch, gymnastics. The boys were joining us today for some teamwork exercises. Usually, we would train separately, but occasionally we would train together. Well, train is a subjective term, at least today. Us girls trained. The guy we got teamed up with only spotted us. Sure, it takes some skill, but come on. We were the ones flipping and jumping through the air.

Since we were an uneven number of boys and girls, two or three girls would share one guy. Me, Bree and a girl named Jen got paired up with a guy named Casey. Not my favorite at all, he was lewd and immature, trying to hit on Jen in every way possible. Unfortunately, he was very good at spotting, although I would much rather have ahad a different guy helping out when we were practicing back handsprings and tumbling. I knew Casey wouldn't dare spot us wrong, but I can't say I was entirely comfortable with his hands on my lower back and on my hamstring. It didn't help either that I caught him ogling Jen and Bree as if he had x-ray vision. Bree and I kept rolling our eyes at his antics and, to be honest, futile attempts at hitting on Jen. She sometimes came off a bit arrogant, but I actually felt sorry for her, watching as she tried to snub Casey. When Afton Derby dismissed us, Casey strutted after Jen like a horny little puppy, still trying to get on her good side. I packed up my things, snickering at the image, and left for lunch.

Even though the cafeteria was busy and loud, I could still hear Jasper's subdued call for me. His eyes followed me as I moved down the line to pay for my lunch. I walked toward him with a big smile on my face. How could one person make you so happy? It was as if there wasn't enough room in me for the feelings I had for Jasper. I sat down, and we leaned in to give each other a quick kiss. He told me that Directors Vincenza and Giuliano had okayed his performance, albeit after some elaboration on theme and musical choice. I pointed out that anything but an okay would have been outrageous.

"You're too kind," he smiled, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"God, the two of you make me sick." Rose slumped down on the other side of the table and slammed down her tray with a sharp thump. She sounded way more grumpy that I had ever seen her before.

"Nice to see you, too, sis," Jasper replied, taking no notice of his sister's surly mood.

"Blah, blah, yap, yap, motherfucking whoop."

"Something wrong, Rose?" I asked, looking at her.

She grumbled something unintelligible, and began stabbing into her food with all the smoothness of a knife murderer on speed.

"Let me guess, mother an' father are still buggin' you?"

The stabbing ceased, and she looked up from her plate.

"They're trying to stage an intervention. Like, a real fucking intervention! Mom is already on her way, and dad called just to remind me how the neighbors don't talk about anything but my fall from grace, and yes, he actually used those words," Rose rambled on exasperatedly.

"Mother is comin' here? Alone?" Jasper asked, genuinely surprised.

"Supposedly for a 'ladies only'-shopping trip, but trust me, it's an intervention. I can smell it."

"Do I even want to ask what you're goin' to do about it?"

"Well, the thought of joining the mole people has crossed my mind," Rose quipped snarkily, resuming stabbing her food. "Why won't they let me be happy?"

"Have you tried telling them that Emmett makes you happy..?" I asked and Rose shot me a sour look. "Right, nevermind."

"This is all wrong. They were supposed to get off my case when Emmett and I married. I'm not a precious Hale anymore."

"I am," Jasper commented, sounding somewhat irritated. "You think it's fun tryin' to take over? Be the golden boy? You were perfect Rosalie, they adored you. You really thought thet were goin' to roll over on their back an' surrender?"

"Oh, get over yourself, Jazz, you were always the good one, stop trying to pretend otherwise," Rose sneered, looking sternly at her brother.

They locked eyes with each other, staring each other down. I just sat there quietly, looking from Jasper to Rose and back, feeling myself shrink away. It was beyond awkward, you could've heard a fucking needle drop.

Neither one of them wanted to give in, but eventually Rose sniffed, and curtly said she needed to go prepare herself for the shopping date with their mother.

"God forbid I let her down more than I already have," were her parting words.

She didn't even take the awkwardness with her as she stomped off. I had no idea what to say, and Jasper wasn't keen on talking. I usually had no problem with silence, I mean it was my favorite comfort zone, but this was killing me. We were just sitting there quietly, picking at our food. An ice breaker was clearly called for.

"So... I began, frantically searching for something, anything, to talk about.

Jasper looked at me quietly, one eyebrow raised in question.

"What's your take on Rocky V?"

Jeez, did I just say that?

"My... What?"

"You know," I automatically continued, because of course I just couldn't shut the fuck up. "Everyone says it sucks ass, and I'd be inclined to agree, but I think it's sort of sweet that Sly picked is own son to play Rocky's son, although I wonder how he felt when he was replaced in Rocky Balboa, not that I think that guy didn't do a good job, 'cause he did..."

"Okay, stop talkin', you're not makin' a lick of sense."

"I'm sorry, I could hear how stupid it all sounded, but I couldn't stop myself."

"It's okay," Jasper assured me. "Welcome to my life."

"Rose sounded upset," I tried, but Jasper just shook his head.

"She needs to rant an' pick on someone. I happened to be here."

"But your mom..."

"You needn't concern yourself with this. It's just family stuff. We'll handle it."

For a second Jasper's voice sounded hard and commanding, like he was really trying to tell me to butt the hell out of his personal business.

"You'd better, before Rose really joins the mole people," I laughed trying to joke it all away.

"Yeah, well I've been runnin' interference between Rosalie and our parents for a long time. I think I know what I'm doin'," Jasper replied irritably.

Definitely telling me to butt the hell out. I could feel a pang of disappointment and hurt gnawing at my insides.

"I didn't mean... I didn't say you don't know what you're doing. I was joking. It won't happen again."

I swallowed, trying to will away the pang. I refused to let this put a damper on my good mood. Jasper was clearly in a funk, no matter what he thought or said. Getting mouthed off by Rose could crack even the toughest biker, and I sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end.I began collecting my stuff to leave, and let Jasper cool off.

"See you later tonight?" I asked tentatively as I stood up to leave.

"Yeah. Sure," he muttered back, not looking at me.

I gave him a small smile and a peck on the cheek as I walked away with my tray of half-eaten food. I would not let this ruin my day. I wouldn't. I wouldn't.

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**A/N**: I find the thought of mole people fascinating. Maybe I should have Rose join them? Anyhoo, review and let me know what you thought!


	29. Chapter 28: Friends and Benefits

**A/N**: I am so sorry for disappearing like that. After the last chapter I was hijacked by school. I got back from summer vacation and was basically told I had two months to finish my thesis if I wanted to graduate before Christmas. Which I wanted. So basically, I burrowed myself in my castle of thesis-writing, and by some miracle, I managed to graduate by Christmas. Yay for that! Sadly, I got stuck with PB-writers block. I had like half the chapter finished, but couldn't finish it for some reason.

Don't know what kicked my inspiration into gear, but I'm glad it did. I'm dedicating this chapter to my friend Kass. It's her birthday today, and since I don't have a time machine or a transporter, this is my birthday present to her. Enjoy! :)

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own. Ya'll know that.

* * *

_28. Friends and Benefits_

I don't know how, but the incident at lunch managed to stay a small road bump in an otherwise happy and fulfilling day. The rest of my classes went fine. Spurred on by my new-found drive to thoroughly kick Jane and Alec's asses into next week, I threw myself at my schoolwork. Perfection? Pfft, I was heading for whatever was beyond that. Even if it meant I would have to slave over French verb conjugation.

All in all, a great day, as it was.

Until the school-part of the day was over.

It started as soon as I entered our dorm. Alice was nowhere to be seen, which meant that Rose was stalking around their room, muttering, cursing and throwing clothes around. I greeted her with a moderately cheerful "hi", only to have her bark at me like a fucking Dobermann. I gave a low whistle, and quickly retired to my room. I glanced over the Dance History-assignment and the notes from last week's English class. I decided to get on with French homework, so I'd get it done and not have to stay up late the day before and try to figure out how to conjugate right.

Needless to say, by the time I was done, I had cussed about as much as Rose had.

I had just started with some exercises for English, when Rose stormed in, arms full of clothes. She unceremoniously dumped them on my bed, put her hands on her sides and looked at me expectantly.

"Yes..?" I said, not fully able to figure out what dumping clothes on my bed would mean.

"I need you to be Alice," Rosalie stated flatly, looking down at me.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My mother is meeting me outside campus in an hour. I need something that says I couldn't care less about her impending intervention, that I'm happy with Emmett and that I wish that she and dad could do themselves a favor and pull out the sticks that seem to be lodged up their asses."

I looked at the pile of clothes in disbelief, then back at Rose.

"I'm not sure any skirt or blouse could say that much..."

"Please, Alice does it all the time."

"So call her. I'm quite happy that I have learned how to dress in a manner that makes me look neither hoochie, nor nun," I replied, ready to return to my homework.

"Gee, if only I had thought of that first, Bella," Rose said sarcastically. "Don't you think I've tried that already? I've called her seven times, I've left seven emphatic voice mails. I've mailed her, I've Facebooked and Tweeted her. The only thing I've got left to do is send out smoke signals."

I sighed heavily. Really, I was the only option? I got up and started going through the pile of clothes Rose had dumped on my bed, and I had to give it to her: she had great (and expensive) taste.

"So are these your final choices?" I asked, motioning to the numerous skirts, pants, tops, cardigans and blouses.

Rose snorted. "Please, that's just what I got my hands on first. Plus there are shoes, bags and accessories to think of. Besides, if I had knocked, and asked politely, would you have given in as easily?"

Sneaky bitch. She was right, though.

"Fine, lead the way."

She pulled me into her and Alice's room, and for the next 30 minutes I got to comment and critique Rose's outfits. Although I'm not sure I did any good. I'd say something, and she would either agree or she'd counter. Whatever she did, nothing seemed good enough. Nothing seemed to say "Get the fuck out of my life". First, Rose wanted to go white, just to rub the wedding in her mother's face. Then she disregarded white because it made her seem innocent and like she could be coaxed back into the clan. She settled on skirts, but just as quickly said no way in hell, because Mrs. Hale usually wore skirts, and Rose didn't want to dress like her. On the bright side, thar got us settled on pants.

"You know, Rose, I don't think it matters what you wear," I tried when 20 minutes remained.

"Just because you feel you can dress like a hobo and not give a flying fuck, doesn't mean the rest of us can or want to," she sneered, wriggling her way out of a pair of skin tight black jeans.

"Wow, thank you for that lovely compliment. Look, all I'm saying is that maybe you should be the one talking instead of your clothes."

"Oh, Bella... The world of high society is like a pleasant mystery to you, isn't it? Let me clarify something for you: clothes matter. Clothes talk."

"More than your mouth? That would be news..." I muttered grumpily. "And didn't you pretty much flip high society the bird when you married Emmett?"

"Yes, unfortunately, my lovely mother doesn't speak Regular Joe."

Then, an idea formed in my head.

"So, bring Emmett."

"What? So he and my mother can get into a brawl?" Rose rebutted off-handedly, discarding a cream colored button-down shirt.

"I know jack about what clothes to wear if you want your parents to butt out of your life. But I do know that if you want your mom to understand you're not coming back to her precious high society, Emmett is your best accessory. He's pretty much got your statement stamped on his forehead."

That shut her up at least. Furrowing her brow, Rose watched while seconds ticked by.

"You know, that's actually a pretty good idea." Without saying anything further, she fished out her phone, hit speed dial, and within seconds, she was asking Emmett to come meet her outside. I took that as a sign my work was done, and returned to my room. I half-heard Rose call out goodbye before she left, door slamming shut behind her.

I worked my way slowly through the rest of my homework, making sure that nothing was left to later. I made myself dinner, and called Reneé to update her on my week. I was quite thankful me and Jasper had agreed on practice, since it gave me an excuse to end the call with Reneé. My mother, bless her, had many strengths. Unfortunately, short phone calls were not one of them.

I changed into tights and a loose-fitting t-shirt, took my pointe shoes and left for the dance studio. Jasper had kept quiet since the incident at lunch, and I found myself biting my lower lip in anticipation. Would he still be testy and all moody? When I got closer to the studio, I could hear the now well-known musical themes of _Cohkka_ flowing from inside. I peeked inside, seeing Jasper whirl around the studio, one with the music. His movements were still a bit too rough. The idea was to create a mood, a feeling of being lost and disoriented. The movements should be somewhat rough, but not so rough that they threw you off your game. I slipped in, making sure he saw me coming.

"Hi," I greeted him, tensing up as I awaited his expression.

"Hi," he greeted me back neutrally. "I started a bit earlier, I wanted to go through this part before we started.

"No, that's okay. It's looking good. You need to polish the over all flow, it's throwing you off in some places."

He nodded, and stretched his neck and shoulders. I sat down on the floor to lace on my pointe shoes, trying to make sense of where we were on the whole lunch-situation. He wasn't barking at me, so that was good, but the fact that he said nothing was unnerving.

"Are we good?" I asked as I stood up.

"Yeah, you wanna warm up before we get goin'?"

"No, you don't... I mean, are we good? Like good-good?"

He looked at me, and realization dawned on his face. Hmm.

"Yeah, sure, we're... we're good."

I couldn't tell if he was lying, and that hurt a bit. I had somehow thought I would be able to tell if he was bullshitting me or not. Instead, I plastered on a smile and blithesomely said: "Okay, great. Let's get going."

Jasper continued working on his rhythm and timing while I quietly warmed up. The atmosphere in the small studio was a bit awkward, I wanted so badly to say something, but I knew if I did, I would instantly morph into one of those needly, clingy girlfriends that every guy hates and I really did not want that. Instead, I took a deep breath and bit down. I would not let this fuck up my day. Jasper and I would dance, it would be glorious and everything would be fine.

Fine came about 20 minutes later when we finally started relaxing and focusing on the dance. Jasper's movements became more fluid, he nailed his jumps and his posture significantly improved. His entire body seemed one with the music, it spoke through him, and it was a thing of beauty. To my delight, he began smiling, spurred on by the visible improvements to the routine. Within the hour, the lunch debacle was a thing of the past.

"I've said it before, and I'm saying it again," I said as his face flashed by while I was doing a set of fouettes, "if they don't ace your for this, they're all fucked up in the head."

"You haven't even seen what the others are doing for their projects," Jasper pointed out, moving in circles around me.

"Come on. Even you have to admit this is the best thing ever."

Jasper smirked, and extended his arms, allowing me to transition from the fouettes to another improvised pas de deux. That seemed to be our MO for these rehearsals. We'd work on the actual routine for a while, repeat things, add things, then as we ran out of ideas we'd begin dancing for the fun of it. It was our version of brain storming. and it kinda made me wish I could be part of his performance.

We danced around for about fifteen minutes, trying different combinations and stances. Some of them were good, and Jasper would run over to his stuff and write down the combination so we could work on incorporating it into the routine. We had fun. I loved the feeling of floating through the air as he lifted me up and swept me around the room.

And then there was a knock on the door.

It opened before either one of us had time to say anything. In stepped none other than Mrs. Hale, with a smug Rose in tow. I had no idea what to do, neither did Jasper. For the longest two seconds of all time, we were just frozen. Jasper finally managed to shake out of it, and he gracefully let me back down onto the floor.

"Hello, Mother," he greeted her politely.

"Jasper," she replied succinctly, before looking at me.

Jasper noticed it too, and he quickly took a step forward, hands clasped behind his back.

"Mother, this is Isabella Swan. She's my... friend."

Friend? "She's my friend"? What the fuck was that about? I was more than his fucking friend, and I wanted to tell him as much. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hale was watching us, me, rather intently, so I couldn't even stare a hole into that fucker's back.

"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Hale," I offered as evenly as I could, plastering on a fake, pleasant smile.

"I'm sure." Mrs. Hale pursed her lips, looking from me to Jasper.

"How was your lunch?" Jasper tried to desperately get a conversation going.

"Fine. Rose's... boyfriend..."

"Husband," Rose cut in venomously.

"Emmett..." I could hear the difficulty Mrs. Hale had in saying his name, "joined us."

"How nice. Will you stay the night? We could go out for lunch all three of us tomorrow."

All three of us? Something told me I was not included in this trinity, which made me want to kick his pert ass even more.

"Thank you, Jasper, but I'm leaving tonight. Your father and I have an invitation to the opera tomorrow. You understand."

"Yes, of course..."

Who was this little sissy standing next to me? I couldn't believe this was the guy who had basically fucked me in a shower. Why didn't he just detach his balls and hand them over to her?

"I just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing," continued his mother, her voice cool and almost bored.

"I'm fine. Isabella..."

"Bella," I cut in, much like Rose had. I would not stand here and be Isabella'd like this was the 1800's.

"She is helping me plan a routine for the sophomore performance week."

"How nice of her. Well, I need to leave, I have a train to catch. Would it kill you to call us every once in a while, Jasper?"

"Of course not, Mother. Have a good trip."

She nodded curtly, before sweeping out of the room, Rose following her. Rose turned around before closing the door, giving Jasper a look of "what the fuck was that?" She was not the only one. I sat down on the floor, unlacing my pointe shoes.

"Do you even want to be with me?" I asked, when I was sure Rose and Mrs. Hale were out of earshot.

"What? What kind of question is that?"

"No reason... friend." I put as much bitterness as I could into that last word, because over my dead body was this going to slide.

"Oh, for god's sake..." he muttered, shaking his head.

"No seriously. I am your friend. I'm the red solo cup to your Toby Keith." I tied my pointe shoes together, and began walking off.

"Bella..." I could hear behind me, followed by quick steps. Jasper was by my side in seconds. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him.

"No, you listen to me, mister. This whole fucking notion of you feeling that you need to shield me from your world is just flat out fucking condescending, okay?" I said angrily. "You make it look like you don't want me in your life, like I'm something fun on the side."

"For heaven's sake, Bella! You don't understand, my family..." Jasper began, his voice gaining volume.

"Fuck, you think your family and friends are in some way entitled to being catty and phony? I'm sorry to break it to you, but I've navigated those waters, too, and I know how to handle backstabbing bitches and lewd tools. Quit trying to protect me!"

We were almost at the dorms, and a group of people were heading our way. Jasper didn't say anything, but I could tell he wanted to. We kept quiet until the group had passed, by which time we had entered the dorms. He stalked closer to me, his eyes alight with an anger he was trying to keep in check. I found myself wishing he'd just let it loose, give me an excuse to go all praying mantis on him and bite his head off.

"Would you, please," he began darkly, emphasizing the 'please', "let me handle this, Bella?"

"I'm sorry, did you already forget what I said? Stop trying to protect me!"

"I'm not trying to!" His yell echoed through the corridors.

"Oh, really?" I replied sarcastically.

Jasper then took hold of my wrist, bringing us to a sudden stop. With one smooth movement, he had me against the wall, my hands clamped against it. He leaned forward, face just inches from mine. I could smell his scent, a combination of sweat and expensive cologne, and my body began humming. Part of me wanted to kick him in the nutsack for being such a grade A fucktard, and for cornering me like this. Another part of me wanted him to take me, right up against that wall. I struggled to keep myself composed, to be the better part of this argument and not resort to sex to get out if it. It was just hard. Fucking near-impossible, more like it. He must have figured out that I never could resist him when he came that close to me, close enough that I could feel his breath on me, hear his heartbeat.

"Jasper..." I tried to sound stern, but it came out sounding like something between a sigh and a moan. Fucking me, I couldn't even trust myself to win an argument.

"Do you honestly think we would be able to keep doin' this if mother an' father found out about us now?"

"Are... you ashamed... of me?" I breathed out in staccato-like huffs.

Come on. Open sphincter, remove head, Bella.

"No! No, no, no... I love you. But you see what happened to Rose. I don't want that. I want to ease my parents into acceptin' the girl I love."

He was quiet for a moment, suddenly looking at me solemnly.

"Is that so wrong?" he finished subduedly.

How do you argue with that? How?

The answer is that you don't. As much as I wanted to fight and claim all kinds of bullshit on the matter, the fact is, I saw it. It was obvious, in all its simplicity. I knew what kind of game Mr. and Mrs. Hale played. We had to be smarter, manipulate them into liking me. No offense to Emmett, but at least I've never been in juvie hall. Couldn't be that hard to win them over, right?

"Fine..." I muttered, tracing my fingers across his back.

He nodded approvingly and kissed me. Well, if I couldn't brand him right now, I sure as hell wanted my share of the cake whenever possible. I deepened the kiss, showing exactly what I wanted. More. We stumbled through the corridors to our destination. I fumbled with the keys, trying to unlock the door while having my back up against it, my lips ravaging Jasper's.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally managed to jimmie the key right into the lock, turn it and thrust it open. We fell in, almost landing horizontal, but Jasper managed to yank me upright, and we continued our frenzied journey to my room. Inside, Jasper made quick work of my t-shirt and leotard. I managed to pull off his shirt before he forced my up against the wall, this time with me facing it. He took my hands, moving my arms above my head, and began to slowly pull off my tights and panties. I shuddered at his slow, torturous touch, but obligingly stepped out of them when they finally hit the floor.

I was buck naked, while he was (as far as I knew) still wearing his tights. The anticipation sent shivers through my body, and when Jasper pushed up against me, the contact sent my nerves into overdrive. So close, so warm, so... hard. His boner was pressed tightly against my ass, I could feel it pulsating underneath the tights and dance belt. There was something very arousing about him still being dressed. The fact that it was tights didn't make things worse.

Pushing up against him, I could feel his length harden even more under the light pressure.

"Whatever am I goin' to do with you?" he murmured softly in my ear, running his hands down my body.

"I could think of a few things..." I sighed in reply.

Slowly, I began turning around, ever so often brushing my thighs up against his rock hard bulge. Jasper hissed and sighed, and I smiled to myself. When we were face to face, I locked his eyes in a vise, licking and biting my lower lip. He didn't move an inch, he seemed completely frozen in place. I snaked my arms around his neck, lithely jumping off the floor and locking my legs around his hips. The wet heat of my center connected with his hard-on, and we both let out muffled cries of pleasure. Finally, Jasper found his resolve again. He moved us up against the wall again, took hold of my ass and back to support me, and began grinding his still tights-clad dick up against my wetness. I clung to him for dear life, not wanting our bodies to part.

"Please," I breathed in his ear, squeezing my legs tighter around him.

Without a word, Jasper walked us over to my bed, slowly lowering me down onto it. He stood watching me, ultimately pulling off his tights and dance belt. Maybe it was because I was so turned on, but he was as glorious as the first time. Honey blonde hair and smooth lines all over, soft and hard at the same time. Jasper crept up between my legs, stopping just short of my entrance. Teasingly, he took a breath, and exhaled right on my sensitive bundle of nerves. Hissing, I thrust myself at him, wanting to reestablish any form of contact. A throaty laugh sounded in the room, followed by my moan of pleasure as he finally tasted me.

He worked me over good, lapping and sucking and ghosting over my sensitive flesh like a butterfly. I squirmed, wanting him even closer, and I temporarily got my wish when the tip of his tongue entered me, causing me to grip the sheets under me. I held them so tight I'm surprised I didn't rip them. Sadly, the novelty wore off, it wasn't enough, and soon, I was squirming again. Impatient as I was, I finally managed to wrestle myself lose and overtake him, straddling him and forcing him to sit up against the wall. With eyes hungrily focused on Jasper's face, I slowly lowered myself onto him. He ground as our flesh connected, and I hurriedly kissed him, trying to quench the loud moans that were building up in me. So soft. So hard. So...

"Mmm, Bella..." he grumbled in a low voice, breaking away from my kisses.

He started nipping at my neck, his hands pulling my closer to him. I was somewhere between heaven and earth, riding towards release in a frenzied tempo. I wanted him; deeper, closer, fused with me. I couldn't even contain my moans and sighs anymore, they reverberated and sounded through the room like pinballs. Jasper held me, stilled my crazy bobbings up and down, and kept me in place. I wriggled like a worm, wanting the friction, the delicious feeling of him sliding in and out of me. But his grip was iron, and with faint whines, I finally stilled in his arms.

"Good girl..." Jasper whispered in my ear.

"Please. Please, I need..."

He hushed at me, pulling me up towards him. I groaned, but didn't fight him.

"Do you feel that?"

I felt it all; our warm bodies, his breath against my skin, the touch of sheets against my legs... Jasper inside me, aching and stretching, a perfect puzzle piece. I allowed myself to savor the feeling of it all, being so close, so filled and content.

"Do you feel that?" Jasper repeated steadily.

"Yes." My reply was barely more than a breath.

"That is how much I love you." He thrusted slowly. "How much I trust you." New thrust. "How much I want to be with you, Bella Swan. For-fuckin'-ever."

And suddenly he was there with me, moaning and groaning his way all the way over the edge. He growled right into the silence, and I followed, my voice pitched and broken. It was emptiness and everything, nirvana and vacuum. It was make up-sex and fuck me if it wasn't the best I had ever had.

* * *

**A/N**: As always, leave some love, and I'll try not to go AWOL on you guys again.


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